Humane Deed of a Member of 22nd Infantry Battalion
Wednesday, 18.9.2019 | News
Today, Minister of Defence Aleksandar Vulin and Chief of General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces General Milan Mojsilović received members of the 22nd Infantry Battalion of the 2nd Army Brigade, who have recently saved life by administering first aid to a woman hit by a passenger car in the village of Gugalj on the road connecting Požega and Čačak. The servicemen involved in the rescue were Major Ivan Todosijević, Second Lieutenant Janko Ninković and Senior Sergeant First Class Dušan Obradović.
The three members of the Serbian Armed Forces witnessed the traffic accident which had taken place when the driver of the passenger car, as he was trying to overtake a line of vehicles in front of him, and in an attempt to avoid a truck coming from the opposite direction, swerved sharply into his lane, slipping off the road due to high speed thus hitting a pedestrian on the road extension.
– The pedestrian was flung some fifteen metres from the car. We approached the scene of the accident in our car, where we saw an elderly woman lying in a canal, next to the very fence. We stopped the car, went out and realised that she was badly injured – Major Todosijević explains and ads that the woman was unconscious, with her head injured and her nose bleeding.
According to him, until the arrival of ambulance, he and his colleagues did not move away from the injured woman and they took all necessary measures in order to save her life.
– I checked her pulse, and I realised that her heart was beating and that she was breathing. I placed some support under her head, to prevent choking, turned her to her side and opened her mouth so that she could breathe. In the meantime, someone from the people who had also stopped, called the Emergency Medical Service, which arrived within ten minutes from Lučani and transported the injured woman to hospital in Čačak – Major Todosijević said.
The three members of the 22nd Infantry Battalion assisted the emergency medical service team to place the patient on the stretcher and move her to the ambulance which departed for Čačak with rotary lights turned on. The familiarised the doctors with the condition of the injured woman and explained that there existed a great chance of internal injuries.
– Our job requires that we know what to do in case of self-injuries and in case of necessity of administering first aid to someone else, until some of the specialised services arrive – Major Todosijević explains and adds that the fact that he and his colleagues helped the unfortunate woman, only demonstrates the readiness of members of the Serbian Armed Forces to make right decision and act to rescue somebody else’s life in the moment of life and death.
Second Lieutenant Janko Ninković believes that every member of the Serbian Armed Forces would act in a similar way and sends a message that the citizens of Serbia should know that they can count on their armed forces not only during the work hours, because the members of the armed forces protect them always, whether they wear uniforms or not. He underlines that like other colleagues he as well is satisfied with the standard in the military and says that he sees himself living in Serbia where, through his profession, he will be at disposal to all the citizens.
Senior Sergeant First Class Dušan Obradović highlights that he is proud of having managed together with his colleagues to represent the armed forces in the best light and says that the people can trust soldiers, since the soldiers are always ready to help their people.
Commander of the 22nd Infantry Battalion, Major Ivan Ćatić says that he is proud because his battalion has the members capable of reacting quickly and appropriately in real situations and of administering assistance selflessly and dedicatedly. He says that the three servicemen are exemplary superiors in the unit, who execute their daily tasks and obligations well, and that the rescue in which they participated was a unique confirmation of their capabilities.
Minister Vulin expressed his satisfaction with the fact that the Serbian Armed Forces had within their units such good, brave and resolute people who would always render assistance to everyone in need.
– Whenever you see a uniform and a soldier, no matter if he is on duty or not, he is there to help you and you can be certain that help is there, and law and order. Serbia is proud of its armed forces, just like the armed forces are proud of these brave men, who did not think about who they were helping and why they were helping, but they only saw a human being in distress that required help. The rest of us should think hard and wonder whether we would act in the same way, and why every time something like this happens, dozens of drivers pass by, and no one helps until someone brave and composed enough appears like our members.
The Serbian Armed Forces are there to help their people – Minister Vulin sends the message and adds that each of us should be ready and trained to adopt those skills that we used to have and which we used to help others, but which are today unfairly and absolutely with no reason forgotten and neglected.
– The armed forces are here to help. The Serbian Armed Forces are always the to make all citizens of Serbia proud, and Serbia can count on them and be safe as long as we have such people and such armed forces – stated Minister Vulin who has rewarded the three members of the 22nd Infantry Battalion for their courageous and humane deed with a seven-day stay with one family member in the “Omorika” hotel on the Tara mountain.
