This following statement was released to the public June 11, 2009:
To whom it may concern -
The complicated relationship between the authority with jurisdiction, the Provincial Emergency Program, the Search and Rescue Society and the SAR volunteer has recently been highlighted. Recent events have left the directors of Golden and District Search and Rescue (GADSAR) unclear as to the legal support provided by the authority with jurisdiction and the Provincial Emergency Program.
The premise that GADSAR was built on was that the province would provide both Workers Compensation and legal liability to SAR volunteers when it came to training and operational tasks. The current lawsuit against GADSAR and a recent Workers Compensation claim denial of a SAR volunteer in Cranbrook has left this organization questioning what this coverage actually entails.
GADSAR is now under the understanding that its directors can be held legally responsible for the actions of PEP registered SAR volunteers while acting under a PEP task number during an operational task. The directors of search and rescue must act in defense of any legal accusations without the support of POP. This is unacceptable.
Our organization holds directors liability insurance and it is our understanding that our policy will cover this lawsuit. However, we feel that the province or the authority with jurisdiction should be assuming this responsibility, as many SAR teams in this province carry no liability insurance. We encourage all search and rescue teams in the province to fully understand what risks they are assuming when responding in good faith.
Our organization would like the provincial emergency program to be honest with its volunteers and answer the following questions regarding coverage for both WCB and liability, enabling SAR volunteers acting as directors of the societies to make informed decisions.
• Who is entitled to coverage?
• To what extent are they covered?
• Through what mechanism is that coverage provided?
We hope you can understand the directors of this society are unwilling to accept the legal liability for operational tasks. Until the directors of the society are satisfied with the coverage provided by the province or by other tasking agencies, regretfully, our assets are non-operational. Our volunteers are unwilling to assume that kind of risk.
GADSAR wants [to] keep the lines of communication open and hopes we can quickly deal with these concerns so that we can get back to providing high quality search and rescue services for the public.
Joel Jackson, President
Golden and District Search and Rescue
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