Airport heroes: Two officers save life of woman at Stansted

TWO armed response officers have been praised for saving the life of a woman who was found unconscious in ‪‎Stansted Airport.

PC Matthew Kemp and PC Ryan Mitcham were patrolling the ground floor of the arrivals concourse shortly before 9pm on Tuesday 12 January, when they were made aware that a woman had collapsed.

The officers leapt into action and rushed to the scene where they found the woman slumped over and unconscious. They placed her in the recovery position before communicating via police radio their location and the incident they were dealing with.

Unfortunately, the woman stopped breathing and went into cardiac arrest. Using their first aid police training, PC Mitcham connected her to a defibrillator whilst PC Kemp began to administer CPR.

Thanks to the officers’ actions, the woman initially began to recover, but her condition remained serious and she stopped breathing again.

An ambulance crew and rapid response vehicle from the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST) were on scene in less than seven minutes to take over from the quick thinking officers.

EEAST staff were able to restart the woman’s heart before conveying her to Princess Alexandra Hospital where she was later discharged.

The staff from the East of England Ambulance Service praised the officers and said that without their prompt action, the woman would not have lived.

PC Kemp said: “As police officers we are trained to deal with situations where life is at risk. Our training kicked in and after giving CPR to the lady for around 20 minutes, she regained consciousness. I’m pleased that we were able to help and grateful for the support and assistance of our emergency service colleagues.”

Mark Smith, Chairman of Essex Police Federation, said: “These officers had the right equipment, the right training, were in the right place and saved a person. It doesn’t surprise me and they deserve all the praise they get.”