Police officer relives race to save trapped driver

A police officer who dragged an unconscious woman from an overturned car before helping revive her has spoken of the moment a doctor told her: "If you hadn't cut her down, she would have died."

PC Rebecca Edwards has been awarded a Royal Humane Society Resuscitation Certificate after her actions at the crash scene between Ombersley and Droitwich in January.

The officer, who has worked for West Mercia Police for 20 years, was on patrol with a colleague when they received an automatic SOS alert from a vehicle involved in the collision.

"We just headed towards it not knowing what was going to happen or what we were going to come face to face with," she said.

When they arrived, Edwards found the upturned car perched precariously on bushes at the side of the road, with a woman trapped upside down inside.

"I ran towards the scene while my colleague managed the traffic because it was quite chaotic, as you can imagine," she said.

"The vehicle had gone off the road and it was being supported by some bushes.

"They were the kind that as you tread on them your feet are constantly going through them, so [the car] was just being held very lightly."

Asked what was going through her mind as she tried to manage the situation, Edwards said: "I don't know what it is but ever since I've done this job, from the first day as a PC, I just want to help.

"It's the same as any officer, you just want to do whatever you can... I just kept thinking I needed to get this woman out of the car."

And despite the danger, Edwards climbed into the unstable vehicle and found the woman suspended by her seatbelt and no longer able to breathe because of positional asphyxia.

"When someone stops breathing you need to get them out of that position straight away and as quickly as possible," she said.

Armed with a pair of heavy-duty cutters, she cut through the seatbelt before trying to pull the woman clear.

"I began pulling her out of the car but part of her clothing was still stuck on the headrest, so I've gone back into the car to cut some of her clothing and again started pulling her out," she said.

"She had no consciousness at all and it sounds awful but you are literally dragging this person out of a car."

Once the casualty had been pulled up the banking, Edwards immediately began reviving her.

"I started CPR straight away," she said, adding: "A paramedic turned up but at the time I continued CPR but there was no output.

"We've carried on and I've swapped between my colleague. We were asking the paramedic if there was any output, to which she said no.

"So we've carried on and as I'm doing it she suddenly said there was output, and at that point we knew we'd got the lady back."

The woman was later airlifted to hospital, but Edwards said the full significance of what had happened did not hit her until doctors spoke to her afterwards.

"The doctor pulled myself and my colleague away and I actually apologised because I'd cut her down and I was sorry if I'd caused her further injury," she said.

"That's what you worry about but all you want to do is preserve life and get this woman the best chance of surviving.

"The doctor said to me, if I hadn't cut her down then she would have died. At that point I think it all became a bit much for me, to be honest."

Although she has now been recognised with the Royal Humane Society award, Edwards said saving the woman's life remained far more important than any accolade.

"Sadly, we go to a lot of road traffic collisions and we don't always see a happy outcome," she said.

"But this one, it's going to be one for the memory, let's put it that way."

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