The Atcheson story on the Dangerous game show and in Safari, got me to thinking, Suppose you are on a DG hunt and your PH gets gored or killed? What do you do; pay his medical bills, leave him (or his wife) a whopper tip, or just hope he had a good insurance agent and get out of the country just in case he passes away? What if the PH is disabled, could you be sued for Bwanamony?
Just curious, what some of the members would do or have done in such a circumstance.
I feel I would be obligated to pay his medical expenses and leave him a heck of a tip.

I haven't got an extra $20,000 or $30,000 to pay someone's medical bills. If you feel so inclined, I am certain it would be appreciated. If I get banged up while on safari, is the PH going to pay my medical bills?

Regards,

Terry

Every website and contract has a disclaimer at the bottom .... "while every care will be taken to protect and provide for the safety of the client, safaris are potentially dangerous and neither the company or PH can be held responsible for injuries." Or words to those effect.

Talking as a outfitters, it is the outfitters/ph's decicion if they take out a medical scheme or insurance to cover themselves in an adverse event. I cannot see that you can be in this proffesion without a medical aid scheme, well at least a hospital plan, and insurance. Nobody can afford to be without insurance in today way of life. It is my responsibility to provide for my family even in the event of my death or disibility I must provide for them. If I haven't I've taken very bad decissions.

If the hunter provides some monetary help it will be appreciated, but the hunter can never be held responsible for an injury or death of the ph, except where the hunter did something totally stupid that caused the accident.

At least no one said they'd ask for a refund of the day rate for lost hunting time.

Seriously, doesn't it partly depend on whether you caused the problem? And what if someone on the team apart from the PH gets stomped (or shot). They probably don't have the option on taking out health insurance.

I imagine from a PH's point of view, every hunt is a DG hunt - what animal in Africa is potentially more dangerous than an excited, anxious human with a 416.

I must be in a bad mood tonight.

mike

does anyone pay a roofer's med bills if he falls from a roof while at work other than his own medical insurance???
good gosh some of these questions make a sane man laugh

Even if its the hunters fault, you would have to prove intent, accidents happen and most of them are through a mistake that was made, its the PHs job to see that the hunter does not make that stupid mistake...PHs and hunters are borderline human, so you can expect mistakes..just the thought of legal intimadation in the hunting business leaves me cold, and if it comes to law suits for such as we are discussing, I'm retiring and leaving the business to all those wusses...

The legal profession and our system of jurisprudence has lead us down the yellow brick road, turned its back on God and our way of life, and fed itself into a powerfull dictatorship under the cloak of Freedom IMO. The only business I know of thats has survived its onslaught is the hunting business and that is because of the character of its people....

Sorry Aussie, I hadn't had time to post. Then I also read Rays post - nothing makes more sense.

If it came to some clown talking about lawsuits I would say go right ahead, international legal costs aren't cheap.

If I felt I was at fault in some way I would consider helping.

If eg a tracker was seriously hurt or killed I would certainly help if the outfitter wasn't going to, as it is easier to make a big impact on a guy like that, or his family, (eg a couple of hundred dollars a year is nothing to us but goes a long way in black Africa) than a white guy with a much greater standard of living who also probably is paid enough to at least think about insurance of some sort in any case.

quote:

Originally posted by bwanajcj:
Suppose you are on a DG hunt and your PH gets gored or killed? What do you do; pay his medical bills, leave him (or his wife) a whopper tip, or just hope he had a good insurance agent and get out of the country just in case he passes away?

I don't think any PH I have ever hunted with would expect a client to cover medical expenses or provide a ridiculous tip in such a situation. I think this applies even if the incident were, in some way, the client's fault. It seems to me that PHs know that they are dealing, fundamentally and as much as some of us would like to think otherwise, with amateurs. Simultaneously, any PH that I would want to hunt with would be the kind of guy that I would stick around for and help any way I could.

JMHO,

JohnTheGreek

I guess I don't understand all this hand ringing and worry about injuries during a dangerous game hunt.Anyone with two ounces of brain knows that you are taking a risk and doing so voluntarily. It's up to the PH to provide for his/her own insurance just the same as me. As for the other staff...what's customary in their culture when a wild animal injures or kills them? I am not uncompationate but don't feel the need to worry about these things.
Ray, you don't have to show intent to be sued only negligence. That wouldn't be hard to prove but I doubt if that could be contributed to the client.

Probably the best thing you can do is to have a good knowledge of first aid to the highest level you can manage, and, if iin a bush camp, to know the emergency procedures, radio frequencies etc so if the camp manager is off getting supplies and you've got an unconscious PH you can get an evacuation underway.

mike

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
Even if its the hunters fault, you would have to prove intent, accidents happen and most of them are through a mistake that was made, its the PHs job to see that the hunter does noy make a stupid mistake...

Ray, I was thinking from a moral, not legal point of view. Australia is going down the "American path" regarding legal action. I was an innocent bystander in a road rage incident and got hit head on by a car doing 60mph. I was on a bike. I've spent 60 hours in the OR, a week in ICU and over three months in hospital. The legal costs are going to total TWICE my medical costs. What is the value in that - the lawyers have done nothing to keep me alive but they are getting twice as much as the doctors/nurses/hospitals - my lawyer charges twice as much per hour as my surgeons.

Weneed to take responsibility for our actions - if we know we made someone suffer unnecessarily we should try to put it right, regardless of the law.

mike

In the original post, I was speaking of moral obligation. I posed this question mainly just out of curiosity, but I assume if the hunter is resposible (I.E. gunshot wound) they have the possibility of legal consequences were the PH to pursue.

quote:

Originally posted by BALLBUSTER:
does anyone pay a roofer's med bills if he falls from a roof while at work other than his own medical insurance???
good gosh some of these questions make a sane man laugh

If you caused the roofer to fall, or threw an enraged square of shingles at him, i think he would expect something other than your good humor.