Hartville, OH — Uniontown police Sgt., Michael Batchik responded to a 9-1-1 call at Hartville Marketplace last week of a person trapped in a vehicle which was on fire.
Apparently the victim crashed into the vehicle in front of his after apparently passing out with his foot on the accelerator.
When Batchik pulled up to the scene he quickly and selflessly throws himself into harms way to rescue the unconscious man inside the dangerously smokey vehicle; which could have exploded at any moment.
Moments after Batchik disappears into the smoke he’s seen pulling the unconscious man away from the SUV.
For his courage and selflessness, Sgt. Batchik deserves credit and the Cops Caught On Video would like to extend that to
Now on to the disturbing part of this video. When Batchik pulls up to the scene there are over a dozen people staring at the unconscious man who is potentially dying from smoke inhalation, or worse, an exploding car.
Why on earth didn’t any of the bystanders pull the man from the vehicle? Sure, one or two of them were spraying fire extinguishers, but that can actually do more harm than good to an already asphyxiating individual as it pulls all the oxygen out of the immediate air.
Batchik did not have a respirator nor did he have fire proof clothing on, yet without hesitation, he stepped in and saved a life.
Has society become so dependent upon police action to solve problems that stepping in to save a dying man didn’t even appear as an option to these folks?
Sure dialing 9-1-1 may seem like a rational idea when seeing a burning car, but had first responders been any further away than they actually were, this man may have very well died. Actions save live, not calls for help….When seconds count, police are usually minutes away.
