[symple_googlemap title=”CPR baby” location=”Newport Boulevard and 17th Street, Costa Mesa, CA” height=”300″ zoom=”15″]
A Costa Mesa police officer’s quick response to a 911 call helped save the life of a month-old boy Monday.
The infant’s 17-year-old brother called 911 at 10:30 a.m. to report that the child wasn’t breathing, and an officer who heard the radio call rushed to the scene from a block away and started CPR, according to Costa Mesa fire Capt. Chris Coates.
The teen and his mother were in traffic when they noticed the infant was not breathing, so they pulled over at Newport Boulevard and 17th Street and called 911, police said.
The responding officer noticed the infant was “purple, not breathing and was unresponsive,” police said.
The officer could not detect a pulse, which is difficult to do with an infant anyway, so he started chest compressions, Coates said.
“Once we got there we could feel a pulse,” Coates said.
The fire captain said it was a team effort, starting with the heads-up quick call from the infant’s brother to 911, to dispatchers sending out a call within a minute and the officer rushing to the scene.
“It’s not just a single increment,” Coates said.
The infant was taken to Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach, Coates said.
Coates advised families with infants to take a “hands only” CPR class because chest compressions are the most important thing to do to rescue an unresponsive baby, he said.
— City News Service