Mounted search and rescue

["IRVIN LICHTENSTEIN" <ilichten1@verizon.net>]

Whether you need insurance depends on your service area. 
Regardless of who requests your services unless your organization has a 
written agreement with an exempt organization that includes all your actions
on an emergency you need coverage, both as an organization and as
individuals.  This coverage is for at least 3 major areas of activity:
General and Professional Liability: No matter how trivial your officers make
decisions and some will be seen as wrong or unprofessional. This results in
lawsuits over everything and anything from gates left open to car wrecks.
Volunteers acting on the organization's behalf should be indemnified by the
organization.  We (SEPASAR) carry $1M per incident coverage for the
organization.  Individual members carry umbrella or horse activity coverage
in case their horse steps on someone and are required by law to carry
individual vehicle insurance. This generally covers emergency service and
training.

Organizational: If you have officers who sign checks on the organization's
behalf, the organization owns stuff, or hosts fundraisers with food and
beverages you need a variety of financial bonds, host insurance, and
landlord insurances. These are often included in the general liability
package above. We carry a $10,000 treasury bond and $50,000 in replacement
value equipment coverage, and Good Samaritan defense, included with above.

If you can afford it carrying AD&D (accident and disability) on your members
is a good idea.  Workman's Comp is required in most states as volunteers are
your employees or employees of the agency that called you out.  We do not
yet carry this but have been quoted $5000 per year for $50,000 of coverage
per member, on duty only.

We are also being faced with becoming a licensed EMS special operations unit
in PA which may affect our rating and premiums.

Good Samaritan laws do not apply to most organized responses.  They apply to
individuals acting as they were trained at the level to which they were
trained.  Most states cover first aid, CPR and AED usage.  They may also
require certain persons to do something and therefore hospitals that collect
blood for DUI screening or report child abuse are protected as long as they
do so in a professional manner.  However, you can still be named in an
action and you will need to pay for a lawyer to assert your defense, thus
Good Samaritan Defense coverage to pay the lawyers. 

There are often horror stories about who gets stuck with the bills
afterward. In Delaware the state, counties, and their employees enjoy 
sovereign immunity.  A fire company, while removing a patient from a creek,
dropped the patient into the water.  Two paramedics, employees of a
contracted ambulance, paid all the bills because everybody else had
immunity. 

Depending on where you are located and where you respond you need coverage.
You are holding yourself out as a trained, professional resource and not
meeting those expectations is expensive in court. 

We use an insurance company that specializes in fire/rescue/EMS: VFIS and
there are agents almost everywhere.  We spend around $1000 per year. There
are other carriers that also cover fire and rescue companies and may be
available in your area.  Check the ads in fire trade magazines, not riding
magazines.

Irvin Lichtenstein 
SE PA SAR
-----Original Message-----
From: msar-riders-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:msar-riders-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of
nikkilinder@rocketmail.com
Sent: Thursday, February 16, 2012 9:34 AM
To: msar-riders@lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: [MSAR] Insurance question for stand alone msar units

Insurance question:

If you are currently operating a "stand alone" not for profit mounted sar
unit, what type of liability coverage do you carry? How much are you insured
for?  What does your policy cover and for how much does it cost annually??
Any suggestions on insurance agents who write policies for msar units?

Nikki Linder
North Georgia Mounted Sar


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