Shropshire PC Mark Bates revived baby having cardiac arrest

PC Mark Bates resuscitated a five-week-old baby who was having a cardiac arrest

A police officer who resuscitated a five-week-old baby suffering a cardiac arrest is set to receive an award.

PC Mark Bates, 27, is being recognised after reviving the boy at a house in Telford early on 29 December, 2022.

He performed CPR, chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to save his life.

Although the boy died in hospital eight days later, PC Bates said he was glad to give the family "a little bit of extra time together".

PC Bates has now been honoured by the Royal Humane Society for his actions that day, and should receive his award in early spring.

"It's a really proud moment for me, it's just a shame about the circumstances," he said.

'It felt like hours'

"I don't think anyone in this job does it for commendations and awards. You do it to do your bit."

PC Bates and a colleague had been on a call in Telford when they were contacted about the baby having a cardiac arrest.

The pair, who were only three minutes away, found the lifeless boy lying on the floor and PC Bates's first aid and CPR training kicked in.

"CPR is something you never want to have to use but with a baby, particularly so," he said.

"It was a moment where I had to trust in the training and do what I could. You go into the instinct of, 'What have I been taught? What do I know? What can I do to help this baby?'."

He performed CPR and chest compressions with his fingers until the ambulance service arrived.

'The saddest job'

"It felt like hours, but it was only minutes," he said.

"We actually managed to get a pulse back and revive the child. When the ambulance service got there I passed over to them and their sophisticated equipment and everything."

The baby was taken to Telford Hospital and then Birmingham Children's Hospital where, tragically, he died eight days later.

PC Bates described it as "the saddest job he's dealt with" in his almost five years in service.

"They were able to spend New Year with him, get him christened, take hand prints and foot prints and to spend some time together as a family," he said.

"It gave the family time to create those memories, so while it was a tragic ending there was that positive."

'Protect and preserve life'

PC Bates has worked for West Mercia Police for five years, a job he "always wanted to do".

"A fundamental role of the police force is to protect and preserve life," the officer said, whose CPR training came in handy again just a few weeks later, when he attended to a man he found lying at the side of the road.

"Ninety-nine times out of 100 we are the first emergency services at the scene. When ambulances call us, they know our vehicles are faster and we can help in the interim until they get there.

"Ultimately, we're there to save lives as well. If we can help, we will."