Police officers awarded for saving suicidal Spalding man
A suicidal Spalding man owes his life to four local police officers who brought him back from the dead after he hanged himself in a garage.
Police reached the address where he was hanging lifeless by his neck within minutes of the last report of him having been seen.
They cut him down and immediately began administering cardiac pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) which thankfully, with the later help of a defibrillator, brought him back from the brink of death.
Now PCs Sophie King, Charlie Smith and two other officers who cannot be named, have all been awarded Royal Humane Society Resuscitation Certificates for saving his life after they found the man hanging in the garage.
One officers cut him down and PC King began administering CPR. PC Smith and another officer then arrived with the defibrillator which was used to administer shocks to the man who began breathing again and later went on to make a full recovery.
Praising all the officers Andrew Chapman, Secretary of the Royal Humane Society said: “This was a life and death scenario in which every second counted. If the officers had not managed to reach the address in the time they did the man would almost certainly have been beyond resuscitating.
“The four officers did a brilliant job and as a result managed to bring the man back from the brink of death. They all richly deserve the awards they are to receive.
“At the same time this is yet another incident which indicates the value of as man people as possible, not just members of the emergency services learning how to administer CPR. It can, as it was in this case, be a life-saver.”
The roots of the Royal Humane Society stretch back more than two centuries. The Queen is its patron and its president is Princess Alexandra. It is the premier national body for honouring bravery in the saving of human life.
It was founded in 1774 by two of the day’s eminent medical men, William Hawes and Thomas Cogan. Their primary motive was to promote techniques of resuscitation.
However, as it emerged that numerous people were prepared to put their own lives at risk to save others, the awards scheme evolved, and today a variety of awards are made depending on the bravery involved.
The Society also awards non health care professionals who perform a successful resuscitation. Since it was set up the Society has considered over 87,000 cases and made over 200,000 awards. The Society is a registered charity which receives no public funding and is dependent on voluntary donations.
