Quick-Thinking Mountain View Police Officer Saluted for Saving Choking Infant
MOUNTAIN VIEW (CBS SF) -- The Mountain View Police Department on Thursday praised the heroic actions of a patrol officer who helped save an infant boy who was choking earlier this week, according to authorities.
Mountain View Police Department posted about the incident late Thursday morning on its official Facebook page. On Monday evening at around 7:45 p.m., the MVPD dispatch center received a call regarding a baby boy who was choking outside the In N Out restaurant located on the 1100 block of Rengstorff Avenue.
Patrol Officer Garcia happened to be in the parking lot across the street from the location writing a report on a separate incident and ran over to the In N Out. Garcia arrived and found the concerned family outside the restaurant with the baby boy, who was not breathing or moving.
Garcia quickly took the baby and began performing CPR, giving the infant chest compressions for several minutes and getting the baby to breathe again.
Mountain View fire personnel arrived on scene soon afterwards and provided additional medical care, ultimately helping to transport the baby to an area hospital. The baby has since been released and is back home with his family.
"I am so proud of the quick actions that were taken to help this littlest Mountain View resident," said Chief Chris Hsiung. "It is a good feeling to know we have someone like Officer Garcia ever ready to help our community in a time of need."
The post went on to note that performing CPR on infants is a different process from how it is performed on adults. The post noted that according to the American Red Cross, the correct steps to take with a choking infant are:
- Kneel beside the baby. A still from the body camera footage showed Officer Garcia holding the baby firmly. This was due to the age of the newborn infant being treated; placing him on the ground could have caused bruising to his head.
- Push hard, and push fast. For infants, use one or two fingers to deliver 30 quick compressions that are each about 1.5 inches deep.
- Give two rescue breaths. For infants, use your mouth to make a complete seal over the infant's mouth and nose, then blow in for one second to make the chest clearly rise. Now, deliver two rescue breaths.
- Keep going. Continue the these baby or child CPR steps until you see obvious signs of life, like breathing, or until an AED is ready to use, another trained responder or EMS professional is available to take over, you're too exhausted to continue, or the scene becomes unsafe.
