A dangerous situation unfolded on July 28 in the area of the so-called Zakręt Śmierci in Karkonoski County. During a patrol, forest guards noticed a passenger car parked in a forest clearing. The vehicle was in a place where it should not have been, so the officers decided to check what had happened.

At the scene, they found a 90-year-old man locked inside the car. The senior was sitting in the passenger seat of a vehicle heavily heated by the sun and appeared exhausted. The only precaution was a slightly open window, while the vehicle doors remained locked. (They could not be opened without damaging the car.)

Because of the threat to his health and life, the police and emergency medical services were notified immediately. The officers who arrived at the scene established that the senior was a 90-year-old resident of Karkonoski County.

The police quickly reached the owner of the car. It turned out to be the 90-year-old’s son, who said that he was already returning to the vehicle.

The officers determined that the man had come to the forest to pick berries. According to his explanation, his father had wanted to accompany him. However, instead of providing the senior with safe conditions, the son left him alone in a locked car during high temperatures.

The 90-year-old’s condition required medical assistance. He was taken to hospital for further tests. The entire intervention by the services lasted approximately an hour and a half.

The driver’s irresponsible behaviour resulted in penalties. The police issued him two fines: for entering the forest with a motor vehicle without authorisation and for failing to comply with a no-traffic sign. The Forest Guard issued two more fines for stopping the vehicle in an undesignated place and creating a direct fire hazard by driving a heated car onto dry forest undergrowth.

The services once again remind the public that leaving a person in a locked car during hot weather can lead to the body overheating in a very short time and pose a serious threat to health and life. Older people, children and those with chronic illnesses are particularly vulnerable. Even a slightly open window does not provide adequate ventilation, and the temperature inside a vehicle can rapidly reach a dangerous level.

More about the case at Lwówecki.info.