A POLICE officer is to be presented with a Royal Humane Society award for the second time after he revived a teenage drug addict who had suffered a heroin overdose.

PC Rich Allen will receive the society’s resuscitation certificate after he saved the life of the young woman, who had overdosed in Tolladine Road, Worcester. He also received the award in 2006 following a similar incident.

The 27-year-old constable from the West Mercia force arrived to find the teenage woman lying on her back in the living room of a ground-floor flat in the early morning of Sunday, February 17 this year.

When he examined her she was not breathing and had had no pulse.

He was told the paramedic would not be there for at least another 15 minutes.

PC Allen, who is first-aid trained, knew that brain damage occurs minutes after a person stops breathing. He gave her mouth-to-mouth and performed chest compressions to keep blood circulating around her body as part of his cardio pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training.

PC Allen said: “The situation was quite hard. There was another female in the room who was hysterical and kept on trying to take over and push me away from her.

“Another police officer dragged her away to allow me to perform the CPR. There were needles everywhere. But I had been trained and was confident enough to know that what I was doing was correct. It’s only afterwards that the realism of what’s just happened begins to kick in. I just did what I had to do.”

By the time paramedics arrived the young woman had a faint pulse thanks to PC Allen, and after a further eight minutes, the woman began to breathe unaided. The cool-headed officer received the same award after he helped revive a male heroin addict who had overdosed in the female toilets of McDonald’s in Worcester City Centre on October 13, 2006.

Together with colleague PC Paul Wanklyn they saved his life and he later made a full recovery after he was taken to Worcestershire Royal Hospital in Worcester. PC Allen also won the personal praise of the society’s secretary Dick Wilkinson who said: “PC Allen showed great first aid expertise and played a key role in keeping this woman alive. He kept a cool head in a crisis. He thoroughly deserves this award. But for his efforts she could well have died.”

No date has yet been scheduled for presentation of the award, which has been made on the recommendation of West Mercia police, but it is expected to take place in the near future.