Bromsgrove officer honoured for saving woman from overturned car near Droitwich
PC Rebecca Edwards climbed into a wrecked car to free a trapped driver and carry out CPR
A police officer based in Bromsgrove has been given a national bravery award for helping save the life of a woman pulled from an overturned car near Droitwich.
PC Rebecca Edwards and a colleague, who cannot be named, have both been presented with Royal Humane Society Resuscitation Certificates for their actions at the scene of the crash.
The crash happened at Ombersley on 26th January this year, when a car left the road and came to rest upside down at the bottom of an embankment.
The woman driver was left hanging upside down in her seat, held in place by her seatbelt.
PC Edwards was the first officer to reach the car and found the woman unresponsive, pale and clammy, and no longer breathing.
Her neck had been crushed, causing asphyxia, and her body was folded in half.
PC Edwards climbed into the wrecked car and cut away the woman's seatbelt and clothing so she could be pulled free.
The woman had suffered a fractured leg, a fractured pelvis and two broken arms.
Once she was out of the vehicle, the two officers began CPR.
Paramedics and an air ambulance crew arrived and took over her care, and her pulse returned before she was flown to hospital for treatment for her injuries.
The doctor who treated the woman in hospital later said she would have died had she not been cut free and pulled from the car when she was, according to the Royal Humane Society.
Andrew Chapman, secretary of the Royal Humane Society, praised the two officers.
"This was an horrific accident and the two officers did a superb job in getting the woman out of the vehicle and administering CPR," he said.
"They undoubtedly played a major role in saving her life and richly deserve the awards they are to receive and the praise they have received from doctors," he said.
The Royal Humane Society was founded in 1774 by William Hawes and Thomas Cogan, two doctors who wanted to promote resuscitation techniques.
Its awards scheme later expanded to recognise people who risk their own lives to save others.
According to the Society, it has considered more than ninety thousand cases and made over two hundred and twenty thousand awards since it was founded.
The Society is a registered charity and receives no public funding, relying instead on voluntary donations.