Mountain rescue in the Tatras and the Alps: who pays

• Poland: mountain rescue (TOPR in the Tatras, GOPR in other ranges) does not charge the rescued person, helicopter included.
• Slovakia: the Mountain Rescue Service (HZS) invoices the rescued person. Health insurance and the EHIC do not pay for the rescue itself.
• Czech Republic: the Mountain Service (Horská služba) has a price list starting at EUR 60.
• Austria: after a sports or hiking accident, health insurance does not pay for getting you off the mountain. A helicopter can cost several thousand euros.
• Switzerland: the rescued person pays. An average Rega helicopter mission costs about CHF 4,500.
• Italy: usually free if you end up in hospital. If you are uninjured or the call was not justified, the Alpine regions charge you.
• Germany (Bavarian Alps): health insurance pays for rescuing an injured person. An uninjured person pays EUR 300 to 1,600.

The emergency number 112 works in all of these countries.

In the Polish Tatras, rescue is carried out by TOPR (Tatrzańskie Ochotnicze Pogotowie Ratunkowe). In the other Polish mountains, from the Karkonosze to the Bieszczady, it is GOPR, which has seven regional groups. Both say plainly that rescue in the Polish mountains is free of charge.

The money comes from the state budget. Under the Act of 18 August 2011 on safety and rescue in the mountains, rescue is funded by the Minister of the Interior through grants. Part of the income from national park entrance tickets also goes to the rescuers. There is no provision that would allow them to charge the person they rescue.

Numbers for the Polish mountains: 985 or +48 601 100 300, and 112 when the signal is weak. GOPR recommends the free Ratunek app, which sends your location to the rescuers.

What is free is the rescue itself: reaching you, first aid, evacuation and transport to the ambulance. From the moment the rescuers hand you over to the ambulance service, normal healthcare rules apply. The hospital is free only if you are insured with the Polish National Health Fund (NFZ) or have an EHIC; otherwise you pay for it yourself or from your travel insurance. Our guide What to do if you get sick or injured in Poland explains the details.

On the Slovak side of the Tatras, rescue is carried out by the Mountain Rescue Service, Horská záchranná služba (HZS). Its emergency number is 18 300.

Slovak law (Act No. 544/2002, § 11) obliges anyone in the mountains to pay the HZS the costs of a rescue or search. Minors are exempt, as are people without legal capacity. HZS explains that health insurance pays for medical care, but the injured person pays for the rescue operation, and that the invoice goes directly to them.

This matters in the Polish Tatras too. Rysy, the highest mountain in Poland, lies on the border with Slovakia. If you have an accident a few metres on the Slovak side, the HZS will rescue you and invoice you. TOPR itself advises anyone hiking near the border to buy insurance that covers mountain rescue, including a helicopter.

Guests staying in the town of Vysoké Tatry have had group rescue insurance for the length of their stay since June 2020. The regional tourist office warns that Štrbské Pleso is not part of that town, so guests staying there are not covered.

The Czech Mountain Service, Horská služba ČR, publishes a price list for special interventions, valid since 1 January 2024:

• EUR 60 for an intervention at a rescue station,
• EUR 230 outside the station, up to 3 km away and with up to 3 rescuers,
• EUR 460 beyond 3 km or with 4 to 10 rescuers,
• with more than 10 rescuers, an extra EUR 25 per rescuer for each hour started.

Horská služba also points out that it is not a healthcare provider and that the EHIC does not replace travel insurance.

The Austrian social insurance act (ASVG, § 131 section 4) says that after an accident during sport or tourism, the costs of rescue and of transport down to the valley are not reimbursed. Austria’s Supreme Court applied this rule to a hiker who was flown to hospital by helicopter: only the cost of an ambulance from the valley to the hospital was refunded, although the flight was medically necessary.

The EHIC gives you the same rights as a person insured in Austria, so it does not cover this either. According to the European Consumer Centre Austria (figures from 2016), a quick helicopter mission cost about EUR 2,000 and a complicated one up to EUR 8,000.

Supporting members of the Bergrettung Tirol (the Tyrolean mountain rescue) have had rescue cost insurance of up to EUR 30,000 per person since 2026, which also covers uninjured people. It pays only what your other insurance does not.

Rega, the Swiss air rescue, says that in principle the rescued person or their insurer pays. An average helicopter mission costs about CHF 4,500. Searches and avalanche operations can cost tens of thousands of francs.

Swiss compulsory health insurance pays 50% of a rescue, up to CHF 5,000 a year, and a visitor from the EU with an EHIC is entitled to the same. You or your travel insurer pay the rest.

Rega patronage costs from CHF 40 a year. Rega may waive the costs that an insurer did not cover, including for patrons living abroad who are rescued in Switzerland. This is a voluntary gesture, not an insurance benefit.

In Italy the public health service pays for a rescue that ends with admission to hospital or treatment in an emergency department. In several regions, a visitor with an EHIC is treated in the same way as a person insured in Italy.

The Alpine regions charge the rescued person in other cases: when they were not injured, when the call was not justified, or when they went into the mountains badly equipped. The EHIC does not help with these charges. Two examples from regional resolutions:

• Trentino: EUR 36.15 when a helicopter takes you to hospital, EUR 750 for rescuing an uninjured person in serious danger, and EUR 98 to 140 per minute of flight when the call was medically unjustified or you have neither Italian insurance nor an EHIC.
• Valle d’Aosta: EUR 120 per minute of flight. An unfounded call is charged in full. For a call that was not appropriate, an EHIC holder pays up to EUR 3,500.

In the Veneto region, people injured during high-risk activities such as climbing, ski touring, paragliding or mountain biking on difficult terrain pay a charge even when they are taken to hospital.

Two rules apply on Italian ski slopes. Every downhill skier must have third-party liability insurance; without it you face a fine of EUR 100 to 150 and can lose your ski pass. From the 2025/26 season a helmet is compulsory for all skiers and snowboarders, whatever their age.

The Bavarian mountain rescue, Bergwacht Bayern, charges flat fees. When it rescues an injured or ill person who then goes to a doctor, the fee (EUR 468 to 1,872 in 2026) is settled with health insurance.

A rescue of an uninjured person who cannot get down alone is not covered by health insurance. The rescued person pays EUR 300 to 1,200, or EUR 1,600 if the operation lasts more than 8 hours or involves a group of more than 8 people.

The European Commission states that the EHIC does not cover rescue or repatriation, and lists mountain rescue in ski resorts among the things it does not cover. The card gives you access to public healthcare on the same terms as local people. In Poland this makes no difference for the rescue, because it is free for everyone. In Slovakia, Austria and Switzerland local people also pay for a rescue, at least in part.

Go Safe by TU Europa is for people whose country of permanent residence is not Poland. It covers the whole world except your country of residence (and your country of citizenship, if you live outside it), so it also applies on the Slovak side of the Tatras and in the Alps. Rescue and search costs are covered up to EUR 5,000. Hiking on marked trails up to 3,000 m without climbing gear is covered in the basic policy. Skiing and snowboarding count as high-risk sports, and mountaineering and rock climbing as extreme sports; both need an extension for an extra premium.

The Go Safe limit is close to the cost of an average Swiss helicopter mission, and a long search can cost more. Keep this in mind if you are going to the Alps.

Travel World by TU Europa is for people who live in Poland and travel abroad. Rescue is covered up to the sum insured for medical costs, from EUR 40,000 to EUR 2,500,000 depending on the plan. Trekking up to 5,500 m without climbing gear is covered in every plan. Skiing is covered from the VIP plan, and climbing and via ferrata from VIP with a surcharge. Travel World does not cover Poland. Read more on our page Travel insurance for expats living in Poland.

For trips within Poland, TU Europa sells Travel Polska. It covers Poland and a 30 km strip across the border, which includes the Slovak Tatras. Rescue costs after an accident are covered up to PLN 15,000 in the VIP plan and PLN 30,000 in The Best. The product page and the purchase form are in Polish only: Travel Polska.

Both Go Safe and Travel World cover rescue and search when they are needed to save your life or health after a sudden illness or an accident. Rescuing a person who is not injured, for example someone who is tired or caught out by darkness, does not meet this condition, and the insurer may refuse to pay. Those are exactly the cases for which the Italian regions and the Bavarian mountain rescue send an invoice.

If something happens, call the rescue service first and the insurer’s Assistance Centre as soon as you can. Its number is on your policy.