HEROIC police officers have been praised after they put themselves in danger by wading into water to carry out a dramatic river rescue in Worcester.
Officers worked together to rescue the woman from the River Severn, near Diglis Bridge in Worcester on Tuesday morning after they were alerted to a concern for her welfare.
Police, ambulance and the fire service, including boat responders, were all deployed in the rescue shortly before 9am. Now they have spoken in more detail about how they worked together to help the woman.
The first officer in the water was PC George Bradbury of the Neighbourhood Crime Fighting Team but he stressed it was a team effort with a key role played by two response officers, PC Sarah Maddison and PC Imogen Kimberley.
"We went into the water up to waist height. I was very pleased she had no significant injuries," she said.
He said PC Maddison and PC Kimberley guided the woman from the water and onto the embankment where additional NCFT and response officers provided support, including PC Matt Shore and PC Edmunds. He described PC Maddison negotiating with the woman before she was taken to be assessed by an ambulance crew.
DI Dave Knight said: "Police officers place themselves in danger regularly as they have a duty to protect others. Situations involving river rescues are always tricky and the preferred option will always be to await specialist teams to assist in them, however this is not always possible as officers will naturally look to protect lives."
A spokesperson for the West Midlands Ambulance Service said: "We were called to reports of a patient in the water near to Bromwich Parade at 8.53am, one ambulance attended the scene. On arrival we discovered one patient, a woman, who was assessed and taken to Worcestershire Royal Hospital."
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A spokesperson for West Mercia Police said on Tuesday: "A woman was brought to safety shortly after, she was then treated by ambulance staff who were also on scene."
A spokesperson for Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service said: "Two Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service crews – one each from Worcester and Malvern Fire Stations – along with Water First Responders from Droitwich, boat crews from Worcester and Evesham and the incident command unit and drone from Ledbury were called at 8.55am to a rescue from water in Diglis, Worcester.
"A female casualty was rescued from the river and handed over to the care of the ambulance service who attended along with police. The incident was marked as pending closure at 9.54am."
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