KEY POINTS:
Two Gisborne police officers have been commended for keeping a man alive after he suffered a suspected heart attack.
The man, believed to be in his late 50s, was out walking in the city yesterday when he collapsed.
A resident raised the alarm, concerned that he was drunk and not moving.
Two officers in a patrol car were just a short distance away when they got the call and responded.
Senior Sergeant Moera Brown said they checked the man's vital signs.
"They did the right things, feeling for a pulse and checking the breathing, and found there was no pulse and no breathing," she said.
The two officers then started cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) as an ambulance was called.
They managed to keep the man's heart going until paramedics took over.
The man was taken to Gisborne Hospital, where he remained in the intensive care unit today.
The officers "should feel really proud of themselves", Ms Brown said.
"It's a good day to come to work when you can do something like that, but it is still part and parcel of the job."
- NZPA
