When the call comes in, response officers need to be ready for anything and everything. A key principle of policing is the preservation of life.
Police Constables Aaron Kincaid and James Blundell used their first-aid training when they responded to a distressing call in Tameside.
On arriving at a house, the officers found a girl with a sweet lodged in her throat and struggling to breathe.
PC Kincaid used his training to full effect, successfully dislodging the sweet from the girl’s throat and helping to calm her down before paramedics arrived.
Whilst PC Kincaid tended to the child, PC Blundell did everything he could to help the parents remain calm before paramedics took over and the young girl was taken to hospital as a precaution.
PC Kincaid said: “We’re both glad that we were in the right place at the right time.
“I have a daughter the same age as the little girl who needed our help, and I cannot tell you how much of a relief it was when she started breathing normally and said she was okay after I had managed to dislodge the sweet.”
Stockport PC Rebekah Marsden was praised for the ‘calm and composed’ way she dealt with a vulnerable woman on the wrong side of a motorway bridge.
She worked with other emergency services and GMP officers, spending almost three hours on the bridge until the woman was brought down safely.
PC Marsden said: “When I arrived, there were already officers at the scene, but the female would not engage with them.
“It was a difficult situation because I’d never dealt with anything like this before and I didn’t know if I was going to say the right thing, but I felt like I had to do something.
“A female paramedic came to help and we worked together to get her on the right side of the bridge. I then helped her down and into the back of an ambulance.”
A Bury response officer who helped to save a man’s life received a Chief Constable’s Commendation for her efforts.
PC Sarah Lewis was first on the scene of a serious stabbing in Radcliffe.
PC Lewis administered emergency first aid that she had learnt during her training at Greater Manchester Police, helping to stem the bleeding while she waited for paramedics.
She said: “It is always nice to receive recognition for your work, and to receive recognition from the very top of the force is extra special.
“However, the biggest and best reward is knowing my actions have probably helped to save a man’s life.
“I am just grateful that I was there to help him in his time of need and that I’d had the first aid training to be able to help him.
“I will always be grateful for the training I’ve had, as a man is probably alive because of it.”
Assistant Chief Constable Matt Boyle, head of Response Policing at GMP, said: “One of the principles of policing is preservation of life and that is so often the case with response officers.
“These officers have used their life-saving training and general policing skills to make a difference in the communities they serve.”
