A HEROIC Dudley emergency medical technician has been honoured for helping to save the life of a woman who was seconds away from death.

Stuart Punter was one of many West Midlands Ambulance Service workers, volunteers and members of the public to be recognised at the Long Service and Excellence Awards, held in Solihull recently.

He received a Chief Officer Commendation for helping out at the scene of a police incident in Dudley whilst off duty.

Mr Punter was driving home after a busy night shift when he stopped to assist officers who were talking to a young woman hanging precariously from a bridge 80 feet above the roadway.

The situation was getting very tense as the woman, who was hanging on by her finger tips, was becoming exhausted.

Mr Punter and a police officer took a split second decision that she was about to fall to her death and made a grab for the woman as she started to loosen her grip and pulled her to safety.

Fellow emergency medical technician Sarah Lawrence also received a commendation for going above and beyond the call of duty when she and a colleague responded to a serious building fire in Tipton.

The fire started in a bedroom and the two patients involved had both leapt from a second floor window moments before the crew arrived.

The man had leg injuries and a woman was suffering with smoke inhalation and with the fire still well alight above their heads, the pair treated the patients at great risk to themselves.

It was only when the windows blew out of the building that the crew were forced to carry the patients to an area of safety before continuing to treat their injuries.

Jacqueline Chase, a call assessor based at the Emergency Operations Centre in Brierley Hill is often required to provide life saving instructions to members of the public over the phone.

She received a commendation for giving clear and precise instructions to a member of the public resulted in the survival of a nine-year-old child who had gone into cardiac arrest .

The Team Achievement in Excellence Award was given to NHS 111 staff and the Mental Health Response Unit, both based in Brierley Hill.

NHS 111 staff were honoured for their "excellent delivery" of service since stepping in in November 2013 and consistently exceeding performance targets.

The response unit received the accolade as the scheme has led to a dramatic reduction in the number of people suffering mental ill health issues ending up in police custody across the West Midlands.

Chief Executive Anthony Marsh said: “It is right that we take time out of our busy schedules to pause for a moment to reflect on all the great things that our staff, volunteers and colleagues from the other emergency services and our partners do to support the ambulance service in providing a really good service for the public and saving lives.”