Police dog rushes to the rescue and gives CPR to fellow 'unresponsive' officer

A police dog in Spain named Poncho has become an internet sensation after its video went viral last Friday. The dog was shown performing CPR at a training camp.

In the tweet posted by the Madrid Police, Poncho can be seen ‘saving’ a fellow officer who’s ‘unresponsive.’ The dog’s skills received applause from the audience at the demonstration.

The video showed an officer falling to the ground and pretending to be unresponsive. Poncho the dog, who’s wearing a harness with a flashing emergency light attached, ran quickly to assist him.

The dog then bounces up and down repeatedly on the officer's chest attempting to perform CPR. Then it places its ear on the man's neck to detect whether he was breathing or has a pulse.

For more on this story go to our Twitter account @amomama_usa. Poncho continued to ‘save’ the policeman until he stood up.

As the dog jumps up and down joyfully reaching for the officer; he gives Poncho a well-deserved treat. CPR stands for cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

It is a well-known lifesaving first aid technique which can be carried out when a person’s heart stops beating. Since its posting on Friday, the video has received more than 12,000 retweets and over 22,000 likes.

Poncho belongs to the Municipal Police of Madrid.

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 the blood flowing through the body. Poncho isn’t the first dog to learn this technique.

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

Imbergerova trained the dog to jump on her chest.