NH Woman Becomes First With Hike Safe Card To Need Rescue
ALBANY, N.H. (AP) — A Newmarket woman injured while hiking in the White Mountains has become the first person with a Hike Safe card to need rescuing, the state's Fish and Game Department said Monday.
Deborah Bloomer, 64, hurt her ankle around noon Sunday while descending Mount Chocorua. She was met by a member of the U.S. Forest Service and slowly continued the descent with assistance.
Eventually, rescuers from the forest service, three local fire departments and state conservation officers used a litter to carry her off the mountain. A photo released by the Fish and Game Department shows a smiling Bloomer holding her hike safe card with her bandaged ankle stuck out in front of her.
Bloomer had the card that protects hikers from paying costs related to their rescue. The state sells the cards — $25 for an individual, $35 for a family — to help defray the high cost of rescues, which averages $350,000 a year.
Since 2008, the state has been able to bill those found negligent for the cost of their rescues but efforts to collect the cost of rescues are not always successful.
The state's highest court in April ruled that a Michigan man injured during a 2012 hike was negligent and must pay the $9,200 cost of his rescue. That rescue was one of more than 900 search and rescues conducted by Fish and Game between 2006 and 2012 at a total cost of $1.8 million, paid for by fees added to boat and off-road vehicle registrations.
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