LIFESAVING BUTCHER AWARDED WITH COMMENDATION IN BRIERLEY HILL

A butcher has been presented with a Public Commendation from West Midlands Ambulance Service after he administered CPR to a member of the public who suffered a cardiac arrest.

Gordon Tranter, Assistant Manager at Alan Warwick Butchers, performed CPR when a member of the public collapsed outside of the butchers on the 17^th June.

Gordon recognised that the woman had suffered a cardiac arrest and was able to call 999 and begin administering CPR, something that he had no previous training or experience in doing.

When a cardiac arrest happens, every moment counts in the fight to save a life. Every minute a person in cardiac arrest goes without CPR or defibrillation, their survival chances reduce by 7-10% and in 2020, the Resus Council reported that only one third of people in the UK would be confident performing CPR on a stranger.

On Thursday, Gordon was presented with a Public Commendation Award for his lifesaving actions. Gordon was presented the award by Andy Jeynes, Community Response Manager, alongside Councillor Adam Davies from Dudley Council.

Andy said: “It was a great opportunity to meet Gordon, he represents a number of people who have saved a life by performing Basic Life Support. It’s a life skill similar to riding a bike, once you can do it you will never forget.

“It would be fantastic if more people were confident like Gordon to give it and go as absolutely anything you do is better than nothing at all.

“The benefits of improving bystander CPR is evidenced around the world where the highest bystander CPR rates are linked to the highest survival rates from sudden cardiac arrest.

“At the moment, over 68,000 people suffer a sudden cardiac arrests in the UK every year.

"If this happens in front of a bystander who starts CPR immediately before the arrival of the ambulance, the patient’s chances of survival doubles.”

Adam said: "Like so many people, I was genuinely inspired by what Gordon did. The way he acted so instinctively and saved a life, I assumed he'd had CPR training - so when he told me he'd only ever seen CPR given on TV I was even more inspired. That's why I reached out to Andy Jeynes from West Midlands Ambulance Service to make sure this selfless act of bravery got the recognition that it deserves.

"My bigger hope is that Gordon's example will also encourage others to step up when duty calls. That's why I've also created the Best of Brierley Hill Award to further raise awareness of these kind of acts of bravery here in the Brierley Hill ward, and to recognise brilliant local people such as Gordon who step up and act with no expectation of thanks or reward."