Appalachian Gathering 2012: Emergency Assistance at the Gathering

Where in the Appalachian Bioregion are we going?

Where in the Appalachian Bioregion are we going? The consensus was for the White Mountain National Forest (in the Northeast), or the Appalachian states of Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Georgia. Spring Council selected a site in North Eastern Tennessee.

If you're not familiar with the gauntlet on the road into the gathering, and want to avoid a mandatory court appearance ticket click here.

For the Howdy Folks and directions to the gathering, click here. For the United States Forest Service Incident Command website with groovy maps and updates, click here.

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Emergency Assistance at the Gathering

Today's guest post comes courtesy of Sister Babz - she speaks wisdom. I will just add that if you need medical assistance, most of the large kitchens have trained medical folks and you can always send a runner to INFO who can quickly mobilize the assistance you need:

The reality is that this years site will probably have cellphone reception. As people scout, it is a good thing to know whether a site has access or not. Access is a mixed blessing!

Historically, the biggest concern regarding this issue has come from the local emergency medical service responders (EMS), and the calls they receive from gatherers for issues that could have been dealt with bette...r on site. A 911 call goes out, and the EMS system is activated and obliged to respond. Medical evacuation is an expense to the local community, and unnecessary calls eat up their budget and every year is a concern when gatherers meet with EMS services.

911 calls from a gathering are best avoided. The are often unnecessary, and multiple calls swamp the system and can cause confusion. Get help locally folks! Count on the family in the woods - find out early how to get help --- CALM, call out shanti sena, seek a gatherer with a radio to get help first --- and avoid calling 911, unless of course, you really, really, really need help. It is customary for gatherers to have circle/councils/meetings with local EMS services prior to the gathering, it is here where a protocol is worked out to determine the best way to deal with emergencies that require an EMS response.

2 comments:

AnonymousApril 15, 2012 at 8:54 AM
)))) i will be camping as far away from cellular wavelengths as possible ((((
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AnonymousApril 25, 2012 at 12:30 PM
Agreed! Lovin' you family! A special thanks to sister babz for making cleanup of council site Washington 2011 possible. Dances with stars
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Getting into the gathering without getting a mandatory court appearance ticket

Getting into the gathering without getting a mandatory court appearance ticket
Every year the United States Forest Service Law Enforcement (USFS) Incident Management Team (the cops) attempts to write as many tickets to family coming home as they possibly can to justify their presence. They give out tickets for broken tail lights, failure to use a turn signal in a deserted parking lot at 2 AM, lack of seat belts, controlled substances (even just a trace amount), beads hanging from your rear view mirrors, prescription medications if the label doesn't clearly have your name on it and you can't prove who you are, dogs off leash, a vehicle missing a front license plate even if you live in a state that does not issue a front license plate and a lot more violations of the letter of the law.

However, these tickets are not the type of citation you would probably receive for any of these issues in your hometown. These are mandatory court appearance tickets. There will be special court dates set up just for us, so we can go to the local courthouse, fire station or visitors center and go before a magistrate. In the past, charges have been reduced, fines were often minimal and the court has allowed people to make payment plans ranging from 90 days to pay $75 to 18 months to pay $25 depending on the hardship cases people have expressed.

If you do not show up for your mandatory court appearance on the date indicated on your ticket, a Federal Bench Warrant will be issued for your arrest. Then the USFS LEOs will come into the gathering looking for you. If they find you they will arrest you and put you in jail until the next court date. If this happens on a Friday afternoon, you will be in jail until Monday. If they do not find you at the gathering, the next time a law enforcement officer for any reason stops you, your ID will be run through the database and you will go directly to jail.

Of course, everyone is free to manage this situation as they wish but I strongly recommend you go to your court date. I have seen people charged with crimes that could potentially result in a six years sentence walk out with a $500 fine and three years’ probation. Keep in mind that every year the dynamic is different and these results may not always be available. There are lawyers at the gathering (I am not a legal expert) who attend the court dates and will assist as best they can although I recommend you catch up with them before your court date to gain a better understanding of your specific charges and strategies to get the charges dropped or reduced. If you do not know these people personally, go to INFO and let them know you received one of the magic tickets and you need legal assistance.