B.C. rescue volunteers have set a deadline for the provincial government to deal with their liability concerns.

B.C.'s search and rescue community has given the provincial government 60 days to pay for insurance coverage to teams across the province or face a withdrawal of services.

The move comes after an unprecedented lawsuit was launched against the Golden and District Search and Rescue team last month by a Quebec skier, who accused the rescue team of not doing enough to help him and his wife, who later died.

Pete Wise, a volunteer who has helped with search and rescues since 1964, says B.C.'s search and rescue community are worried about the situation they are facing.

"Everyone is very concerned, this is a hot button topic," Wise said.

Many of B.C.'s 90 search and rescue societies don't have liability coverage and can't afford to pay for insurance.

It's estimated it would cost the government about $2,000 to insure smaller rescue teams each year.

Volunteers say that's a bargain considering what it gets for free.

"Vernon spent about 5,000 man hours out in the field on searches," Kelly Carnochan, a member of the Vernon Search and Rescue team, said.

"On a volunteer dollar rate it would be about $21.50 an hour. So we gave the government over $100,000."

The government is saving close to $9 million because of search and rescue volunteers.

Don Bindon, president of the B.C. Search and Rescue Association, will meet with Solicitor General Kash Heed next Wednesday to discuss the association's concerns.

But he says the association has already lost as many as 10 volunteers who act as administrators.

"They didn't want to expose themselves to the potential liabilities that come from being in a society in an executive position," Bindon said. "Some of them have stepped away from their executive jobs."

Vernon says the Provincial Emergency Program has refused to address the insurance issue for the past 13 years.

PEP declined an interview request from CTV on Wednesday.

The rescue community is nervous that a lifesaving network that has become so crucial in B.C. may be lost due to couple of thousands of dollars.

And now, other Canadian search and rescue associations have taken notice.

Harry Blackmore, president of the Search and Rescue Volunteers Association of Canada, says search-and-rescue groups should check their insurance policies to ensure the search teams and the societies that run them are covered.

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Lisa Rossington