Former nurse recalls moment she saved 8-month-old baby who stopped breathing at post office
A former nurse has stressed the importance of proper health training after she and a police officer stepped in to help a mother when her child suddenly appeared to stop breathing during an outing.
On 11 July, American mother Kylie Vega brought her 8-month-old daughter, Nova, to a Greenlee County post office in Arizona, as per Fox 10 Phoenix.
During the visit, which she initially made to mail a package, Mary Shwarz, a former nurse and postal clerk of 13 years, was manning the desk.
According to the report, she suddenly noticed her customer’s newborn had become ‘limp’ and rushed in to help her.
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Nova, who was born with a hole in her heart, had apparently stopped breathing. After she failed to find a pulse, Schwarz administered CPR.
While Vega rang 911 for further medical aid, Schwarz said she performed back thrusts in ‘an effort to clear the baby’s airway’, as per the local news source.
It’s understood that this action was undertaken after the service worker heard the mom claiming that her kid may have tried to vomit and was choking on it.
Clifton Police Lt. Shari Aguilar swiftly arrived on the scene, helping to work on Nova.
Knowing that ‘time was of the essence’, the officer advised that they shouldn’t wait for an ambulance to arrive.
Instead, she asked: “Can you give us permission to have [Schwarz] hold the baby and I am just going to take her up,” with a nearby medical clinic being the destination.
Thankfully, the ex-nurse confirmed that Nova began breathing again on the drive.
Upon their arrival at the medical facility, professionals took over and the child was later transferred to Banner University Medical Center in Tucson.
Vega has expressed how ‘grateful’ she is that ‘kind people’ like Aguilar and Schwarz were on hand to help her save her daughter’s life.
According to Fox 11, Nova has since undergone heart surgery to repair the hole in the organ that she was born with.
Meanwhile, Schwarz has used the opportunity to stress the importance of undergoing CPR and emergency response training.
According to the National Institutes of Health, only around one in five American adults is trained in CPR and holds an up-to-date certification.
“If you’re a homeowner and have a pool or there’s a choking incident with a child or a family member. It’s so important to have some kind of training to know what to do in that situation,” she stated.
Ella Scott