Heroes of the Week: Two Suburban Chicago Officers Save Infant's Life

Nick Kangadis | March 15, 2016
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(Schaumburg Police Department/Dashcam)

Last Thursday, two police officers in Schaumburg, Ill. saved the life of a 19-month-old baby who was choking to death.

Officers Bryan Poradzisz and Kevin O’Connor arrived at the scene in the Northwest suburb of Chicago around 9 p.m. and found the baby unresponsive.

The child was in the car with her grandmother when she stopped breathing. The grandmother pulled over to the side of the road, took the child out of the car seat and called 911.

When Officer Poradzisz arrived on the scene, the baby was not breathing and her lips were blue. Poradzisz, who is also a trained EMT, began administering the Heimlich maneuver, which ultimately failed. Officer O’Connor arrived shortly after, and the two began administering CPR.

The toddler was still unresponsive, so they started to perform what is called a “finger sweep” to clear the infant’s airway. A finger sweep is when the rescuer opens the victim's mouth by grasping the lower jaw and tongue between the thumb and fingers. The rescuer then attempts to sweep the foreign object out of the victim's mouth with a finger.

Almost instantly the baby regained consciousness and began breathing. The officers stayed with the child until paramedics arrived and took the child to a local facility.

A statement released by the Schaumburg Police Department said that they are not sure what caused the baby to choke.

The statement also read, “The Schaumburg Police Department commends Officer Poradzisz and Officer O’Connor for their outstanding work.”

Most people would call them heroes for their phenomenal work in this instance, but the officers would probably tell you that they were just doing their job.

                                 

(Officer Bryan Poradzisz/Schaumburg Police Department)                 (Officer Kevin O'Connor/Schaumburg Police Department)

H/T Chicago Sun-Times

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