All shot with my W60 from the shore

The boat in the background is called an UMA, it's a special kevlar boat made to be pushed on top of ice. It's very solid and it made to survive high speed impacts with ice while floating in water.



The guys are practicing the extrication of a victim in water (in this case one of the larger guys on the Ice Rescue team to simulate a victim with water-logged winter clothes)



This one isn't very good, but it gives you an idea of scale... the current is pretty swift in that part of the river and can pull a victim under the ice easily.



Pat

[JMR]

I don't think it is necessary in these tyoe of images to be that aesthetic. It conveys the rescue work nicley. one need care with the exposures, which are always difficult when shooting large amounts of white, such as snow and ice. Nicely done.

JMR

[heliphoto]

Nice, W60 is an "Optio" yeah? You city department fire/rescue guys have all the fun toys... dry suits, kevlar boats... good times. When I was a wildland firefighter we just had hand tools and dirt to dig . Of course hypothermia was seldom a risk...

[ve2vfd]

JMR ... I had my K20d in the trunk of my car, but didn't think of taking it when the captain told me we were going to practice ice rescue. Once there I just dug out my W60 which I keep in my bunker pockets, problem is getting a decent exposure and white balance with all that ice and a gray sky!

Heli ... It is indeed the Optio W60 waterproof camera... as I mentionned up there it's always in my bunker pocket, except that normaly I never find the time to pull it out and take pics in fires Montreal being an island with waterways that freeze in winter, we sort of need a decent ice rescue setup The problem with the dry suits is that the guys get soaked in sweat fairly quickly as pushing the UMA around on the ice is a heck of a workout!

Pat

[KrisK10D]

Dry suits FTW

Great shots... love training runs. Gives you time to get a camera out (which you normally can't do in a live situation). I just wanna know how you chose who the 'victim' will be?

[ve2vfd]

Kris ... Well he's the rookie of course!

He's the one who gets the non custom fitted dry suit that leaks a little... did I mention the water is at 1C

Pat

[KrisK10D]

I had an inkling you were gonna say that! The solid surface kinda gave away how cold the water is

[Dale]

Nice, W60 is an "Optio" yeah? You city department fire/rescue guys have all the fun toys... dry suits, kevlar boats... good times. When I was a wildland firefighter we just had hand tools and dirt to dig . Of course hypothermia was seldom a risk...

Right on there Josh, dig dirt, eat dirt, sweat dirt, all the time knowing it was the fly boys in their fancy flight suits that got the gals...

It is amazing at the spread of work that fire related people do. Pat, those are just great shots,and show a world so different to mine.

[gawan]

Nice documentation of an important practice, we are having weaker and weaker ice here too in many places, hopefully people are cautious and there a trained people too to rescue if needed!

[ve2vfd]

Kris ... Well of course! After all what are rookies for?

Dale ... You are right, the population expects us to know and do all... The days when fire deptarments just put out fires are long gone. When people don't know how to get out of a tight spot - whatever it is - they calls us.

Georg ... The ice on the river here is also getting weaker in winter, but people are not carefull... yesterday two of the ice rescue teams had to go rescue a family. They were walking their dog on the frozen river when the ice sheet they were on detached and started to drift down.

Pat

[daacon]

Nice documentation Pat - it's that time of year where we get a lot of ... ummm stupid ?? souls walking in places they have no buisness walking. Kudo's to you for being there saving lives in oh so many ways and nice initiation for the rookie (leaks a little haha) I have been in 3C degree water with a wet suit and that took my breath away!

[khardur]

I watched a similar rescue exercise in a nearby town a few years back, it was very interesting. Indeed it's a blessing for many that you guys do such work, and always a good reminder for those who get lured into thinking the ice is safe to be a little more careful.

[Jonson PL]

Looks cold, intense and dramatic

[ftpaddict]

I get chills just by looking at the photos. Now I need a warm blanket

Very good photojournalism and storytelling, Pat.

[sureshgvv]

nice shots!!!