A HEROIC Kidderminster police officer who helped resuscitate a man having a cardiac arrest has been honoured for his lifesaving actions.
PC Russell Bunce of Wyre Forest Safer Neighbourhood Team has been honoured by the Royal Humane Society for his actions in March 2025 following a crash near the main ringway towards St Mary’s Church in Kidderminster.
PC Bunce was driving down the road on the afternoon March 26, 2025 when he and PC Callum Archer saw ambulance lights flashing near a damaged lamppost.
The duo stopped at the scene and found the scene of a crash where an ambulance crew was working on a man in cardiac arrest.
While PC Archer secured the scene and quickly identified witnesses and updated the control room, PC Bunce assisted the paramedics, taking over chest compressions, only stopping for the charge of the defibrillator.
PC Bunce said initial attempts to resuscitate the man were unsuccessful, but thankfully, the paramedic at the patient’s head who was dealing with his airways found a pulse.
He added: “I took the patient’s pulse rate with the assistance of a bystander and calculated the rate, feeding the information back to the paramedic.
“I estimate we did CPR for five to seven minutes.
“I continued to monitor the patient’s pulse while it was clear he was breathing again, and paramedics continued with their care before more medical experts joined the scene.”
PC Bunce then remained on scene for five more hours while the Serious Collision Investigation Unit (SCIU) carried out their forensic investigation, as well as allowing emergency vehicles in and out of the scene.
The man who suffered the cardiac arrest went on to make a good recovery thanks to PC Bunce’s efforts.
The Royal Humane Society grants awards for acts of bravery in the attempt of saving lives or resuscitation.
Incidents that have taken place anywhere in the world are considered; however, a British person must have been involved in the incident as the rescuer or the rescued.
The Royal Humane Society committee has reviewed over 88,000 cases and made well over 200,000 awards since it was founded in 1774.
PC Bunce added: “It’s an honour to receive this recognition from the RHS, but we were just doing our job, and the biggest reward is knowing we helped save someone’s life, working with the ambulance service.”
