The Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin is expected this Friday at 3 p.m. in Chamonix in Haute-Savoie on the site of the Peloton de Gendarmerie de Haute-Montagne (PGHM), to announce the payment ofa specific risk premium for mountain rescuers, we learned this Thursday from concordant sources.
A long-standing claim
According to information from France Bleu Pays de Savoie, this monthly bonus, known as “high mountain technical bonus”will be paid to all the mountain specialty gendarmes of the PGHM of France and Overseasas well as to the rescuers of the companies of Mountain CRS of France from 2022. The amount, which will be “several hundred euros”, will be set according to the level of qualification of the rescuers.
The announcement of this bonus was made by the minister himself in September 2021 in Isère, after the crash ofa civil security helicopter in Villard-de-Lanswhich left one dead and four injured. “No bonus will replace the loss of a human life, but I made a commitment and it is kept in the 2022 budget”said Gérald Darmanin.
In December 2020, a French Air Service helicopter (SAF) had also crashed in Savoie, at Bonvillard, causing the death of five rescuers, out of the six occupants of the aircraft. These two accidents, which occurred less than a year apart, had a profound impact on the mountain rescue community.
The profession has been demanding for many years the granting of this risk premium, which already exists for certain soldiers, but according to a different system.
The Minister of the Interior is expected this Friday at 3 p.m. at the Chamonix PGHM to detail these announcements. He will then go to the DZ (Drop Zone) of the village of Les Bois in Chamonix, the helicopter base, where he will meet the various mountain rescue actors (pilots, mechanics, instructors, winch operators, etc.).