Emergency Responders Exercise – Carp Airport

We are in safe hands. Yesterday, I worked with West Capital Development and the Carp Airport in documenting their emergency preparedness and response exercise. Comprised of airport staff, local fire departments, police and paramedics from the Ottawa Valley and representatives from the local press, the exercise allowed the teams to practice together, iron out any potential issues and train the junior members of the teams.

My impressions? There is no rushing, only competence and deliberate action. These are the men and women who will respond if we are in an emergency situation, whether it be fire, crash, or medical. We are in safe hands.

The other thing I learned? I do not want to be a newspaper reporter/photographer. I spent some time with Nevil Hunt of ORMG who reports for the West Carleton Review and Tiffany Lepack reporting for the EMC. We talking shop and I watched them interact, interview and discuss the most recent local current events with the emergency teams and Eli El-chantiry, Ottawa Ward 5 Councillor who was recently re-elected. My preference for documentary photography, is spending an extended period with teams, getting to know them, their personalities and what fills their days on that team. That’s no surprise: having spent 10 years in the army, I know team dynamics and personalities well.

Oh, photography, yes, another great learning opportunity: variable lighting from deep-darkest night to high powered stadium floods run off generators. From flash to low-light hand-held long exposures. Overall, I still prefer available light, but I am getting more comfortable with the abilities and shortfalls of flash. For example, flash and emergency teams equipment do not mix: everything and everyone is covered in highly reflective tape which fools the flash-equipped camera into a lower flash power output.

Keeping to the spirit of documentary photography, I’ve not altered the images in any way: raw, gritty and serious.

Please keep in mind that the photos here are of an exercise. There were no injuries and all the actors washed up and went home.

Many thanks to Ray Kucharik, Airport Manager and John Phillips, WCD owner and principle.