Following an incident that occurred at South Windsor, current and former members of Hawkesbury Local Area Command attended Government House, Sydney recently to receive a NSW Humanitarian Society Bravery Award from the Governor of New South Wales, David Hurley AC DSC (Ret'd),
The award was conferred for the rescue of a male from a shed fire at the rear of a property in South Windsor. Upon arrival the Police Officers saw that the shed at the rear of the premises was on fire. The door barricaded with metal weights and locked by a padlock. Forcing the door open using a sledge hammer they entered the shed, inhaling large amounts of toxic fumes coming from burning plastic and other material.
The male was on the ground unconscious, unresponsive and not breathing. He was covered in petrol with various tools on top of him. The officers entered and re-entered the smoke filled burning shed until they finally removed the unconscious man.
Police commenced CPR and EAR to the unconscious man and attempted to extinguish the fire. After five minutes the male was able to breathe unassisted and placed in the recovery position until the NSW Ambulance arrived. He was later air lifted to Westmead Hospital in a critical condition and made a full recovery one week later.
The police officers were all taken to hospital by Ambulance for treatment of smoke inhalation. All were initially required to take time off work to recover and soon returned to duty.
The Senior Management Team of Hawkesbury Local Area Command extended their congratulations to the staff involved on the receipt of the prestigious award from the New South Wales Royal Humane Society.
