TITLE: Hostile Environment

Providing adequate and effective rescue to people in distress can often be a challenge. But this challenge becomes demanding when rescue must be carried out in a hostile environment: high altitudes, rock walls, mountain trails, inaccessible places out of reach for traditional emergency vehicles. I have documented some moments of these special operations carried out by the rescue helicopter operating in the Dolomites (a UNESCO World Heritage Site), the most fascinating area of the Italian Alps.
Image1: a mountain rescue technician (MRT), while waiting for the helicopter to land, observes some colleagues already at work on a rock wall
Image2: a MRT suspended outside the helicopter, after precisely locating the person in distress, prepares to be winched down to retrieve him.
Image3: mission completed: an injured hiker (a woman with a broken arm) is winched to safety aboard the rescue helicopter.
Image4: recovery today is challenging, because the patient is more seriously injured and has therefore been immobilized on a stretcher: cooperation of the whole crew is essential to get him safely on board, and everyone has to check each other out
Image5: Rescue mission to a group of hikers in a steep, narrow gorge: MRT and (then) doctor must be winched down to the ground
Image6: MRT, after being winched down as close as possible to the injured persons, climbs up the steep gully to reach them one by one
Image7: a MRT, while securing hikers to allow the doctor to stabilize them, observes the helicopter evacuating the first patient
Image8: Rescue operations were completed. Personnel still on the ground reached the top on foot, waiting for the helicopter to return one last time. In a rare moment of calm, one of the MRTs pauses to contemplate "his" mountains: an impervious, often hostile place, but unique in the world.

AUTHOR: Matteo Busetto (Italy)

I'm a medical doctor working in the Italian Emergency Medical Service. I discovered photography only in the last year but I dedicated myself to it with great passion, by studying, attending courses and doing a lot of practice. First of all I would like to use photography to document through images how my work is done in Italy and in the rest of the world, for example in the most hostile environments. Moreover, I would like to use photography to explore a little more the world around me, even in aspects not related to healthcare: my main interests include social and cultural issues.