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Constables used defibrillator to save man's life.

Ray Willoughby

 

Two officers have been praised for saving the life of a grandfather using new equipment being rolled out across the Metropolitan Police.

PCs Philippa Knight and Gemma Dobson took a call from the London Ambulance Service asking for help with a man who had collapsed on Salcombe Road in Morden, south London.

When they arrived at the scene on Friday last week, they found 59-year-old Ray Willoughby unresponsive on the floor.

PC Knight started performing CPR on Mr Willoughby whilst PC Dobson prepared the transportable defibrillator, a new piece of equipment that the Met has been rolling out across London.

On the third attempt, Mr Willoughby temporarily regained consciousness. He then stopped breathing again and lost consciousness as an ambulance arrived on the scene.

The paramedics said it was one of the most complicated cardiac arrests they had ever seen, according to the Met.

Mr Willoughby’s daughter said: "We were told by the paramedics who assisted, that police cars have only recently started carrying defibrillators. Without this equipment, his life would not have been saved. I know it was the first time either police officer has had to use the defibrillator and under the circumstances they did an outstanding job.

“Without the help of these two officers using the defibrillator, my dad would definitely not be here, which to me is a huge thing as he mean the absolute world to me.

"Without doing what they did, my dad wouldn't have got the chance to meet this granddaughter." 

The officers visited Mr Willoughby the next day in hospital, before their shift. 

PCs Knight and Dobson, added: "We are over the moon that our new piece of equipment saved Ray’s life and will enable him to spend Christmas with his family and meet his new granddaughter.

“We did what any member of the police family would have done."

Merton borough officers received their defibrillators at the end of October as part of a dual-response initiative to tackle low cardiac-arrest survival rates.

If a 999 call received into London Ambulance Service's control room meets a set criteria, both paramedics and police will be dispatched to the incident at the same time.

In London, the average cardiac survival rate is nine per cent. At Heathrow, the survival rate is 75 per cent, which LAS credit to good access to automated external defibrillators and staff training. 

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