Gymble,
Too often in the U.S. we find that EMS vendors attempt to shoehorn themselves into an already saturated market. In order to be competitive they are forced to cut corners and cross their fingers. To do EMS (or any other aviation endeavor, for that matter) properly is an expensive proposition. To fail to commit to doing it right is to court disaster.
The benefit to safety that NVGs offer far outweighs their cost. They are well on their way to becoming the industry standard. The capability and utility of the modern generation of goggles is vastly greater than those available as recently as just five or ten years ago. I envision that eventually, failure of an operator to provide these devices when appropriate will create a legal liability for them.
-Stan-