"I've been in the news biz for 6 yrs. and today was finally the day...I
had often been asked this question and I have given it a lot of thought,
and I answered it today: "Would you ever stop shooting video to help
at a scene?"
I was sent 15 miles out of town to what we thought was a double fatality
ax...a pickup truck and minivan met head-on. Been there...done that!
I got on scene and got the usual "don't shoot any dead bodies" speech
from the sheriff's deputy. So I got my shots and the vid of the air
ambulance takeoff with the 1 yr. old girl inside in serious condition.
I had been on scene for 10 mins when a fireman yells: "There's someone
under this van! We gotta move this thing!" There was no tow truck
around. I was standing about 10 feet from the van and without thinking
I took my camera off my shoulder, set it down in the middle of the
highway and started toward the van, as did other non-emergency people
who were standing around. I don't lift weights and I'm a pretty big
guy. I got halfway to the van and another sheriff's deputy stopped
me!
I HAD TO STAND THERE and watch 6-10 guys heave and heave and finally
lift the back of the minivan up enough to pull another child, who
was dead, out from under it. I didn't shoot any more video after that.
I asked, but I never got an answer as to why I wasn't allowed to help.
That's what I did (or didn't do) today."
Kim
from Cleveland writes:
7/16/03
"Back in January of 1994 I was returning to my station from a
shoot, driving westbound along a very snowy, icy I-90 along Lake Erie
when I actually witnessed an incredible accident. It was like a stunt
from a James Bond movie: A woman in her Jeep Cherokee had been forced
into the median divider wall and all the snow that had been packed
up against it served as a ramp. My eyes glanced into the eastbound
lanes when her vehicle ramped-up the wall and began to flip in mid-air
as I passed it!
Without taking
my camera with me, I pulled over and ran to the woman's aid. She was
trapped inside the vehicle, which was still running, and was panicking.
By this time a chain reaction of wrecks began happening along the
shoreway (I-90) and while I was leaned up against her vehicle trying
to get her out of the side window another vehicle careened off the
divider wall and clipped me in the back. I remember the woman screaming
and me flying about 10 feet away from the car and onto the roadway.
I hobbled back
up, managed to help the woman to safety, then realized I was sitting
in the middle of a goldmine of a story. So I hobbled back across the
westbound lane, told my producer to stay in the car as I grabbed my
camera and wandered back over to the eastbound wreckage.
I got my video
of blood, wrecked cars and ambulances before the other three stations
arrived. My adrenaline was pumping so hard I didn't notice my leg
was absolutely enormous and that my jacket was open! It was a balmy
7 degrees outside! It was about that time that a Cleveland EMS worker
gently grabbed my arm and escorted me to my very own ambulance where
he had to cut my jeans open to allow my leg to be examined on the
way to the hospital. I was out of work for a month rehabbing my leg
and back.
Had there already
been other persons there I would have done my job, but I felt it was
my humanitarian duty to tend to this woman. I would have felt like
an ass taping away as she continued to panic without assistance. In
my eyes, *that* would have been morally wrong and I have no regrets
about what I did. Twenty-some years of Boy Scouting put me in that
mindset. Regards to all, Kim.
Newsman
from Florida writes:
7/13/03
"on the conditions, but I would either leave my camera on a tripod
or on the ground, and let it continue to roll while I helped. Only
if the camera was not too far away, though. I don't need it to be
stolen at a scene. However, in the market I work in, that would probably
happen (#17). So, I would stop shooting, lock the camera in the van,
and help out. In a "rural" market like Gainesville or Fort Myers,
I would probably leave my camera rolling while I helped."
John
"Lensmith" DuMontelle
writes:
7/13/03
"Two things...
You should have
never left your camera in the middle of the highway. All the good
intentions in the world wouldn't have meant a thing if some emergency
vehicle, in a fit of drama, drove over it. Go and help. Sure, at that
point stop shooting and move to help but never without making darn
sure you gear isn't going to be damaged.
Second, you were
stopped from helping. I can understand the reasons why you wouldn't
still fight past to lend a hand. A scene with the guy stopping you
would have diverted attention from the rescue effort. You made a good
decision to see the big picture of what was important to help the
trapped victim...BUT...that's when you should have turned around,
retrieved your camera and go back to work. You were still on the clock,
right?
Don't beat yourself
up over this. I could be wrong. I wasn't there but you kind of lost
it in the moment and turned into a useless spectator. You had a job
to do and you should have kept doing it. Maybe I read your post wrong
and you did go back and shoot. If so I apologize but it seemed like
you zoned out and missed capturing the reality of the situation, getting
good shots.
I've had my own
moments to. Not many ;o) but enough to know we're all human and things
can affect us. Still that doesn't justify you not doing your job.
A smart aleck question but...did you still charge your boss for that
time you stood and watched? If I were your chief we'd have to sit
down and have a heart to heart. You wouldn't be fired but your reputation
would be bruised in the newsroom.
Frank
from New York City writes:
7/13/03
"You tried to be a hero and your help wasn't needed. You messed
up my man! Next time learn to hit the record button and DO YOUR JOB!
I'd laugh my butt of if you'd come back to a squashed camera. You're
lucky to still be employed!"
Scott
from Indiana writes:
7/13/03
"If someone was in dire need of assistance, I wouldn't hesitate
to help first, shoot later. If people are in danger and I could potentially
save a life, I would help. I might set the camera down and roll tape
just to get audio if I had time but I'd rather miss the shot then
live with the thought that I could have saved a life but didn't. The
person comes first.
But I think those
cases are very rare. If there's no immediate threat, I'd try to get
a shot and roll on whatever happens from a tripod. It's a judgement
call.'
Brian
Williams,
WJRT, Flint, MI writes:
7/14/03
"I think it's important that a photographer be a human first.
If, when at a scene of an accident or fire or whatever, if help is
needed, and the photog is the only one available to provide that help,
then the camera needs to be set down and help provided.
Now, a smart
photog would set the camera down in a way that it would continue to
videotape the scene."
Post your thoughts
on "would you stop shooting" in the FORUM
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