BATESVILLE, Ind. — Batesville Police Lt. Danny Hamilton has received the department’s Lifesaving Award after his quick response helped save an unresponsive man who was choking, according to an official police account.
The emergency happened June 26, when Batesville EMS, Fire and Police were dispatched to a report of a man choking and not breathing. Hamilton was the first officer to arrive, the Batesville Police Department said in its public announcement.
First on scene
Hamilton found the man unresponsive and lying on his side in front of a couch, according to the department’s account. The lieutenant moved him into an upright position and began abdominal thrusts, commonly known as the Heimlich maneuver.
After several thrusts, the food blocking the man’s airway was dislodged and he regained consciousness, police said.
“Without the quick actions of Lt. Hamilton, it is certain that the life of a Batesville citizen would have been lost that day.”
Batesville Police Department
The department recognized Hamilton with the Lifesaving Award on Monday, Sept. 14. The official award photograph shows Hamilton with Assistant Chief Travis Cook.
Local reports confirm the recognition
812NOW reported the recognition on Sept. 15, identifying Hamilton as the first responder to reach the man and confirming that the maneuver restored his ability to breathe.
Eagle Country 99.3 and WRBI separately published matching accounts sourced to Batesville Police. The reports agree on the June 26 response, Hamilton’s actions and the Lifesaving Award.
What remains private
The public sources reviewed by ThinBlueNews do not identify the resident, give a specific address, describe any additional medical treatment or say whether other responders had arrived by the time the obstruction was cleared. This report leaves those details private and does not infer them.
The incident itself occurred in June, but the department’s award announcement and the local coverage are current: the recognition was made Sept. 14 and the three local reports were published Sept. 15.
Sources and visual disclosure
- Batesville Police Department — official account of the June 26 response and Lifesaving Award.
- 812NOW — “Batesville officer saves life of choking man,” published Sept. 15, 2026.
- Eagle Country 99.3 — “Batesville Officer Receives Lifesaving Award,” published Sept. 15, 2026.
- WRBI — “BPD Lt. Receives Life Saving Award,” published Sept. 15, 2026.
- Wikimedia Commons — anti-choking safety training photograph by Choi Kwang-mo, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Source boundary: Batesville Police is the primary source. The three local reports corroborate the department’s account but are not treated as independent eyewitness reports. ThinBlueNews did not independently witness the emergency or award presentation.
Visual note: the featured image is authentic licensed photography of an unrelated anti-choking safety class. It is not the June 26 emergency, does not depict Hamilton or the Batesville resident, and is labeled as contextual training. No officer, patient or incident scene was synthesized.
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