Harrogate police officers honoured after saving man's life at town centre hotel
Four Harrogate police officers who performed CPR on a suicidal man and helped save his life are to receive national life-saving honours.
PC Tom Lister, DS Steve Peachman, PS John Pepper and a fourth officer, who cannot be named, have each been awarded Royal Humane Society Resuscitation Certificates after their desperate fight to save a man's life at the town centre’s Travelodge.
The officers were called to the hotel on the night of January 10 this year, after the man phoned police to say he was suicidal.
PC Lister and PS Pepper were first on the scene. When they were allowed into the man's room, they found him unresponsive on the bathroom floor.
The officers immediately began CPR.
DS Peachman and the fourth officer then arrived with a defibrillator, which was used on the man as the they continued their efforts to revive him.
The four officers took turns administering CPR.
The man regained a pulse and was rushed to hospital, where he went on to survive.
Andrew Chapman, secretary of the Royal Humane Society, praised the officers for their actions.
He said: “Without doubt the swift response and action of the police when they found the man played a major role in saving his life. They richly deserve the awards they are to receive.
“This is another of many cases we see which emphasise the value of as many people as possible, not just members of the emergency services, learning how to administer CPR.
“It can, as it did in this case, make the difference between life and death.”
The Royal Humane Society has a history stretching back almost 250 years.
Founded in 1774 by medical pioneers William Hawes and Thomas Cogan, its original aim was to promote techniques of resuscitation.
As more people risked their own lives to save others, the Society's awards evolved to recognise acts of bravery in saving human life.