Bright Spot: Police save choking baby

Framingham, Mass. (WFSB) - Talk about the right place at the right time. Parents of an infant ran into a police station when their baby started choking. Thankfully, the department’s lead CPR and First Aid instructor was nearby.

“Everything unfolded pretty quickly,” said Dep. Chief Victor Pereira of the Framingham Police Department. They say mom and dad of a two-month-old ran into the police station Tuesday, frantically looking for help when their baby was in distress.

Officer Ryan Porter jumped in to help. “Coincidentally he is our lead CPR and first aid instructor. He was able to immediately jump in and assist and just within a few moments of the baby arriving at the police department, the baby stopped breathing,” explained Dep. Chief Pereira.

Police say the baby was choking on something, and when they stopped breathing altogether, Officer Porter flipped him over. “Officer Ryan Porter was able to deliver some back blows to the baby, which dislodged the obstruction that the baby had in its airway and then the baby was able to breathe freely from that point on.”

And the parents could finally breathe a sigh of relief once their little one began breathing and crying again.

Then paramedics arrived to bring the two-month-old to the hospital as a precaution. Now the whole police department is thankful this officer could save the baby’s life. “We’re very proud of him. We’re very thankful that the circumstances aligned so that we were in a position to assist this family. It must have been a very, very scary situation for the parents of this baby and we’re just thankful we were able to help.”

Police say this is a good reminder to brush up on CPR and other life-saving skills, especially with a baby at home.

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