THREE Essex police officers who went \u201cabove and beyond\u201d their call of duty to save the life of an elderly man have been commended by the East of England Ambulance Service.<\/p>\n
PC Lea Keene, from Maldon Neighbourhood Policing Team, was on foot patrol on Maldon High Street in December last year when a man in his 80s collapsed.<\/p>\n
Realising that he had no pulse, PC Keene called for help on her radio and, within minutes, PC Cass Shilling and Sgt Hayley Rook had rushed to the scene.<\/p>\n
The officers gave the man CPR and continued to assist once the paramedics had arrived.<\/p>\n
Following the paramedic\u2019s instructions, they helped to keep the patient\u2019s airways open and made arrangements with a local school to enable the Essex Air Ambulance to land in its playing field.<\/p>\n
The man\u2019s heart eventually began beating again and he was airlifted to hospital for more treatment. The officers also made arrangements to get his wife to hospital.<\/p>\n
PC Keene, PC Shilling and Sgt Rook were given commendations for their efforts during a ceremony on 1 July in Ipswich, where they were among more than 100 ambulance staff, volunteers and members of the police service from across the region to receive awards.<\/p>\n
Anthony Marsh, Chief Executive of the East of England Ambulance Service, said: \u201cWe\u2019re very privileged to have such a close working relationship with our emergency service colleagues. There are occasions where those colleagues go above and beyond to help our staff, and that\u2019s exactly what these officers did.\u201d<\/p>\n
The trio provided \u201coutstanding assistance\u201d to ambulance staff, he said, adding that their \u201cprofessionalism and compassion made a real difference to everyone at the scene\u201d.<\/p>\n
PC Keene said she was \u201creally proud\u201d to have received the commendation, but added that any one of her colleagues would have done the same thing in the situation. \u201cIt\u2019s just part of our job,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"