DR_COOPER_INTV DR_PENN_INTV FEMALE MALE MICHAEL_INTV VO

VO
Over 200,000 people per year accidentally meet their demise.  Tragic ends lurk around every corner. And with everyone a moment from disaster, split second decisions…

MALE
The kids are in here! 

MALE
There's kids?

VO
Are the difference between certain death and survival. 

FEMALE
I need an ambulance now! 

VO
24% of all fatal auto accidents occur during the morning and evening commute.  People in a rush leads to a lot of close calls.

DR COOPER INTV
Individuals being injured or hit by cars is a common occurrence, because people are easily distracted. It’s important to really pay attention to one, your surroundings. Whether that's traveling or just in your normal patterns. 

VO
But the most dangerous vehicles are the ones that take the longest to stop. In lodi, california, after a railroad crossing light fails to activate. 

MALE
There’s a male stuck on the tracks. Trying to get to him.

VO
An elderly man in a wheelchair is caught on the tracks. With just milliseconds to spare.

FEMALE
Can you get him? Get him, get him, get him. 

VO
The officer yanks the 66 year old man free from his heavy wheelchair, saving his life. 

FEMALE
Call an ambulance! I need an ambulance now! 

VO
Nine out of ten fatal train collisions happen where the tracks intersect with a roadway. 

FEMALE
Can you get him?

VO
This heroic officer pulled up just in time to go toe to toe with 22,000 tons of disaster.

MALE
Get him, get him, get him!

VO
She pulls the stranded man out of his chair and narrowly avoids her own untimely death. 

FEMALE
Call an ambulance! I need an ambulance now! 

DR PENN INTV
We know that it takes about a mile for an average train to stop.  Imagine a train coming toward you and that train is just starting to stop and it's very close to you. That train is going to take you out and there is no tomorrow. 

VO
The man was treated for leg injuries at a local hospital. And the officer received the governor’s medal of valor. In london, a cyclist finds himself on the wrong side of the tracks after a big night at the pub. But this homeward bound hooch hound is struggling with the tracks. And that's not his only problem. As he fumbles with his scattered belongings, he doesn't seem to notice the 140 mile per hour death machine barreling straight toward him. Some nearby workers try to get his attention, but realize he’s not hearing anything.

VO
Because of their height, railroad tracks can be pretty difficult to cross, especially on a bike with groceries and a belly of booze. That's why it’s illegal to cross them anywhere other than the designated intersections. Train whistles are designed to be heard up to two miles away.  But with noise canceling headphones on and a set of beer goggles, there’s no chance he registers the approaching train. One of the railroad workers tries to wave down the conductor, while the other dives head first to make the save with just seconds to spare. 

VO
That was almost a one way ticket to the other side. And the haphazard cyclist was lucky everyone came away unhurt. If the incident resulted in an injury or death, he would have been facing felony charges. Trains may be deadly unstoppable, but at least they’re restricted to the tracks. Because there's another threat that can come at us on any street corner. 

VO
That kid’s gonna need a diaper change. And her grandma’s gonna need one, too. Commercial trucks can weigh from 5 to 800 tons.  So when disaster strikes, it’s deadly. But not for this lucky delivery driver. He’s just out here doing his job, trying to deliver a package when this truck gets a little too close to a tree. 

VO
Like a leaping lion, the steel beast attacks its unsuspecting prey. Turns out he was in the right place at the right time…to cheat death. 

DR PENN INTV
You have to remember, a truck is a huge vehicle. A huge vehicle with lots of power behind it. So what may work for stopping a vehicle like a car is not the same. With thousands of pounds of steel, you could lose control. That is a very very dangerous crash that can take place. 

VO
Narrow lanes and busy roads make trucking the seventh most dangerous job in the world.  And in louisville, kentucky, this driver is crossing the precarious clark memorial bridge, when suddenly…she finds herself staring at a 150 foot drop to the river below. When this driver in the other lane swerves into oncoming traffic, it sets off a chain reaction of split second decisions that sends our helpless truck driver right through the guard rail. Chunks of her vehicle plunge into the ohio river as the cab hangs on by a thread. And the driver holds on for dear life. 

FEMALE
[SCREAMS]

VO
On the clark memorial bridge in louisville, kentucky, a trucker swerves and is involved in a collision. And finds herself in a much more terrifying position. Dangling helplessly 150 feet above the river. 

MALE
Semi hanging over the edge of the bridge. Hanging over the water.

VO
Emergency rescue is on the scene in under three minutes. But the only thing keeping the trucker from plunging off the bridge is a refrigeration tank. Even a slight shift in the weight of the truck, it's over. The rescue workers are unable to move the 80,000 pound vehicle without risk of it snapping in half and sending the driver plummeting to a watery grave. 

VO
One firefighter straps into a harness and is lowered down into the air to try to heave the driver out of the cab. Bumping the truck even a little could send both of them into the abyss. The fireman works meticulously, cutting her seat belt, sliding her through the window. And then locking her into his harness. He slowly pulls the terrified trucker up to safety. After 40 minutes, her gravity defying ordeal is over. But the twisted tonka takes another 10 hours to clear away. 

DR PENN INTV
Naturally the front part of the vehicle is going to go down first, because the weight of the engine is there. You’ve got to move quickly to get yourself out of that situation. Sometimes you may not be able to do that and an officer has to think, how can I get that person out safely?  

VO
The truck driver kept completely still with her foot on the brake pedal for the entire 40 minute ordeal, which may have kept the truck from toppling over. The thoughtless driver in the black pickup who caused the incident is being charged with wanton endangerment and driving with a suspended license. And after being taken to the hospital, this lucky mother trucker was released with only minor injuries. Always wear your seatbelt, kids. 

VO
But driving isn't the only thing that brings danger into our everyday lives. 

MALE
[BLEEP]

VO
Whether it's an outdoor barbecue or just making family dinner. 

FEMALE
[SCREAMS]

VO
We’re always playing with fire. Literally. And when gas is involved.

FEMALE
Dad! Mom!

VO
It can quickly become deadly.

FEMALE
Mom! What is that? 

VO
Stop, drop and roll, grandma. 

VO
In mesa, arizona, an officer is first on the scene of a house fire. 

MALE
Is anybody else in there? Who else is in there? Huh? 

MALE
The kids.

MALE
There's kids? I’m being told there’s kids remaining inside. 

VO
It's everyone’s worst nightmare. Two children are trapped inside. He throws stones at the window. 

MALE
Uh!

VO
To create an emergency exit. 

MALE
Come to the window!

VO
Out of nowhere, a good samaritan appears.

MALE
The kids are here!

VO
He wastes no time hopping the fence. 

MALE
Pull it out! Come on!

VO
Shattering the glass and ripping out the window frame with his bare hands. 

MALE
Tell them to come to the window!

MALE
Come on! 

VO
Then he climbs into the fire.

MALE
We need water for this black window.

VO
And reemerges with a baby.

MALE
Give her to me! Go in! Give her to me! Give her to me! Go, go, go! 

VO
But this superhero samaritan isn’t done yet. 

MALE
Get out! 

MALE
There’s a kid in here! 

MALE
Come out here, come out here. Let me see, let me see. Give me the baby. 

VO
He goes back into the burning building and rescues a second child. 

MALE
I got the girl out. There there right, there. 

MALE
I’m good. 

VO
This friendly neighborhood spiderman faces down death to pull off an incredible rescue. 

VO
And saves the lives of a two year old baby and her six year old sib ling from a fiery situation. 

MALE
I got the girl out. 

VO
On highway 94 outside st. Paul, minnesota, a car has crashed into the side of the interstate and within seconds its engine is engulfed in flames. With the driver stuck inside. The right side of the vehicle is a wall of fire and the left side is wedged against the metal guardrail, blocking access to the car doors. The driver has nowhere to go. Fire and rescue were not yet on the scene so several passing drivers rushed to the burning vehicle to try and help. They tug at the doors to create an escape route. 

VO
But they’re jammed by the barrier. And the fire is consuming the car right before their eyes. The group of good samaritans are driven back by the intensity of the blaze until one person braves the heat to smash the glass, giving the driver the space she needs to get her feet out the window. The rescuers are tempting fate as the car engine explodes right in front of them. These highway heroes pull her to safety. With no time to spare, these quick thinking motorists grab what they could from the vehicles. One man uses a portable fire extinguisher to douse the flames. While another grabs a carjack to try and smash the driver’s window.  

VO
Finally an emergency highway worker arrives with a car safety hammer that shatters the glass and opens a lifesaving path to the trapped motorists. 

DR COOPER INTV
The psychology behind civilians who help in really crises situations, really relies on that individual’s personality structure and their temperament, morality and also community minded people. Those type of individuals are always gonna be more likely to assist. 

VO
When a fire erupts, it’s completely unpredictable and impossible to control. A blaze can double in size every 30 seconds.  

MALE
So, I was coming up like, is that [BLEEP] foggy down there? 

VO
In new jersey, a team of first responders arrived to contain a small house fire spotted by a cop on his evening patrol. 

MALE
Hey, go back, go back over there! 

VO
While officers secure the area, six firefighters go inside to extinguish the routine blaze. But just as the fire appears to be doused. 

VO
In vladivostok, russia, this man is scraping snow and ice off his windshield. But he has no idea he’s about to have a scrape with the grim reaper. This lucky russki must’ve had a 6th sense about a giant concrete slab. Because he looks up just in time. The block had detached from the side of the building 9 floors up and cuts his suv in half, like a hot knife in cold russian butter. But quick reflexes saved his life. Weather in russia can be grim but who knew it could be raining concrete slabs. 

VO
In new jersey, a small run of the mill house fire has exploded into a flaming hellscape. With six fire fighters still inside. 

MALE
Are they out? 

VO
And rescue workers have no idea if they survived the blast. 

MALE
Gotta get to the hydrant! 

VO
With responders already on the scene, they quickly mobilize and enter the blazing building. 

MALE
The best approach is from the back. Headquarters, get us some more rigs here. Get medics here also. 

VO
They pull the six fire fighters out of the blast to safety who survived with minor injuries. 

DR PENN INTV
Fire rescues have such a significant amount of unknown to them. Everything from the smoke, everything from the chemicals to buildings collapsing, floors collapsing. And then the element of time, seconds also is constantly ticking with that emergency. 

VO
But some brushes with death are dished out by mother nature. Tornado or hurricane winds can obliterate anything in their path and leave a wake of threatening devastation. 

MALE
It’s on fire on the ground. 

MALE
Stay there, buddy. Come on, come on. 

FEMALE
Come on. 

MALE
Just outside of the school, I just had two kids get shocked by live wires. Ooh, right now. 

VO
After a storm in detroit, michigan, police are responding to a chilling scene. 

MALE
Stay back, stay back. Where’s the wire, where’s the wire. 

VO
An 8 year old boy touched a live hanging wire. 

MALE
Wire right there, Dave, right in front of your face. 

VO
And the electric current is still running through his body. 

FEMALE
No! 

VO
Residential power cables can carry enough voltage to power 1.5 million homes.  And as the boy lays on the wet ground. 

MALE
He might still be alive, Dave. 

VO
He’s still conducting electricity. 

MALE
I gotta get him, right, I gotta get him. 

VO
The officer moves in to pull the boy away from the wire. But he’ll have to endure a shock of his own. 

MALE
Ah! 

MALE
Stay right there. Take him. Take him, take him. 

MALE
Keep coming, keep coming, keep. 

MALE
Ah! 

MALE
Yeah yeah yeah. 

MALE
Come on, bud. Hey, buddy, stay there buddy, come on, come on. 

FEMALE
Alright, he’s still breathing. 

VO
The boy is still alive. 

MALE
Okay, bud! What’s your name? 

VO
But not outta the woods yet. The ambulance is still several minutes away. 

MALE
Yeah, bring me a, bring me a cot real quick. 

VO
The boy is in grave danger and every second counts. So the police rush the victim to the hospital themselves. 

MALE
[INAUDIBLE], you okay? [INAUDIBLE] I know, I know, I know. 

VO
This decision to risk their lives, trust their gut and take matters into their won hands, saved this kid’s life. Sometimes it’s in the hard moments when heroes truly shine. 

MALE
Burnt out. 

VO
Downed lines can still shock targets up to 30 feet away.  And while dragging this boy out of the reach of the live wire, officers sustained intense shocks. 

MALE
Oh! 

VO
The massive jolt of electricity badly burned the boy’s hands and head. 

VO
But the rescuers pulled him from the grasp of disaster. 

MALE
Get him, get him, get him. 

MICHAEL INTV
Responder is not for everybody. They have the hardest job. There’s a specific skill set, psychological makeup and physical ability that makes a first responder who they are. 

FEMALE
There, I got her. 

MICHAEL INTV
It’s somebody that wants to put their life in danger to save yours. 


DR PENN INTV
We have examples of police officers, emergency personnel, putting their lives on the line to help other people, in which they can face the same danger of being wiped out by that train. This is what police departments, police officers, emergency personnel do every single day. It’s a remarkable thing to put your life on the line for a stranger. 

FEMALE
[INAUDIBLE] It’s not gonna stop. 

DR PENN INTV
And then be told, that’s just what I do. That’s just the job that I do every day. 

DR PENN INTV
But when that doesn’t work, then the officers have to be smart. Cause what’s gonna happen, the car’s gonna hit the water. Let’s just say a car goes off a bridge and hits the water. The officers have to think where’s an area in which the uh less amount of danger can occur with this big giant vehicle. And so that officer may have to put themselves in danger. What an accomplishment for officers to put their lives on the line for a rescue. 

DR COOPER INTV
When an individual is not trained to make split decisions and they don’t have the personality structure to be competent in that area. It’s really gonna be probably chaotic. It’s gonna be very scary for that individual. They could even be paralyzed and not be able to take any action. Or they could take action and it be the wrong action. And they could make impulsive decisions. They could act too soon. They could do the wrong things. Sometimes they would just flee the situation. 

DR PENN INTV
The police officer is the one when the emergency takes place, he or she is going to be on the scene. Even if you call an ambulance, even if there’s a fire, it’s probably also gonna have a police officer on the scene. 

MALE
So, I was coming up like, is that [BLEEP] foggy down there? 

DR PENN INTV
You see, the emergency personnel are there to find you, get you out, get you to help. But who’s securing the environment? Who’s making sure other people don’t go into that environment? 

MALE
Hey go back, go back over there. 

DR PENN INTV
Although it may seem like an emergency situation whether we’re talking about terrorism. Whether we’re talking about a man made or natural disaster it’s that officer that has that responsibility to be on that scene, try to help as many people as possible. But to secure that scene, so that investigation can be done, so that this does not happen again. We also have to be preventive. We have to make sure that we’re keeping our house, our electricity, our all those things that have the potential to start a fire to their minimal amount of danger for us. We have to also be aware that police officers and fire fighters are the ones prepared to run to danger when the rest of us are running away from danger. We’ve gotta thank them for that. And let’s try and make their job easy by keeping ourselves safe and preventing these emergencies before they happen.