Spanish police have trained their dogs to perform CPR

Spanish police have trained their dogs to perform CPR

A SPANISH police dog called Poncho is taking the internet by storm with his incredible lifesaving skills.

Poncho has been trained to perform CPR by the Municipal Police of Madrid who showcased his skills in a video shared on Twitter that has been viewed more than two millions times.

In the footage, a police officer pretends to collapse. Poncho, who has a blue police light strapped to his back, runs over to the seemingly lifeless official.

The dog then jumps repeatedly on his chest, and nestles his head into the officer’s neck in an apparent attempt to check his pulse.

The Police of Madrid praised Poncho in the tweet for not hesitating to “save the life” of the agent.

"Heroica" actuación de nuestro #Compañerosde4Patas Poncho, que no dudó ni un instante en "salvar la vida" del agente, practicando la #RCP de una manera magistral.

El perro es el único ser en el mundo que te amará más de lo que se ama a sí mismo- John Billings#Adopta pic.twitter.com/yeoEwPkbRc — Policía de Madrid (@policiademadrid) June 22, 2018

CPR, which stands for cardiopulmonary resuscitation, is an important lifesaving first aid technique which can be carried out when a person’s heart stops beating.

Millions of people die from cardiac arrest each year. However, if performed correctly, CPR can double or triple a person’s chance of living.

A 2014 US study found that almost 45 per cent of those who experience heart attacks outside of the hospital survived when a bystander performed CPR on them.

The technique works by keeping blood flowing in the body, and can give someone whose heart has stopped beating precious time while they await the arrival of trained medical staff.

Poncho isn’t the first dog to learn this technique.

Last year a Belgian Shepherd made headlines after he performed CPR on his owner, Lusy Imbergerova, for prestigious UK dog show Crufts.

Ms Imbergerova trained the dog, named Deril, to jump on her chest, earning rapturous applause from the audience.