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Infant Revived After 911 Dispatcher Talks Father Through CPR

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(File photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

(File photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

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ELMWOOD PARK, Ill. (CBS) — A dramatic 911 call and a cool-headed emergency dispatcher saved the life of four-week old baby girl, who had stopped breathing while her dad was changing her diaper.

The dad, Brent Patterson, was desperate to get help and his little girl almost died in his hands—when Amelia Patterson suddenly turned pale and stopped breathing.

Patterson’s wife called 911 and frantically pleaded with the dispatcher: “My baby’s not being responsive!”

Nick Risicato, 23, the dispatcher who took their call, said his training in various emergency scenarios immediately took over.

He can be heard on the audio tape instructing the couple on how to perform CPR.

“I am going to tell you how to give mouth to mouth, OK?” Risicato said.

Brent Patterson followed Risicato’s instructions until paramedics arrived.

“Don’t give up until the paramedics get there,” Risicato said on the tape.

That all happened last Sunday at the family’s home in Elmwood Park at about 3 p.m.

It took paramedics about three minutes to get to the home.

All the while, the dispatcher coached the dad through baby CPR.

Amelia was eventually taken to Loyola University Medical Center.

The baby is now being treated at a hospital, and her father thanked everyone involved with saving her.

“We’re grateful for the quick response time and the things that have been done,” he told the Chicago Sun-Times Media Wire. “My daughter nearly died.”

Still, Amelia isn’t out of the woods yet — she had to have an operation the day after she stopped breathing.

“We’re dealing with a very difficult situation and we hope it works out for the best,” Patterson said. “We have a long way to go.”

View Comments
  • Tim

    I’m glad to see that the infant lived after this the dispatcher needs to go back to his training and be taught again If you listen to the 911 call you will hear him instruct the father to give 30 hard compressions to the chest If you are trained in CPR as I am you know that on an infant you have to give gentle compressions with two fingers not hard compression where you can break ribs

    • Haifever

      If you do chest compressions properly, infant or child or adult CPR, you’re going to crack a rib no matter what. When you train for CPR it’s one of the first things they tell you, to be prepared to hear a rib break. You do ‘gentle’ compressions, you might as well keep your hands off the victim entirely; you’d do about as much good.

    • Kriss Greenn

      NO! You WILL crack a rib or ribs when doing CPR correctly. If you are doing gentle compressions then you need to get out of the way and let someone who knows what they are doing jump in.

  • Joe

    You’re compelely wrong. Go check out the AHA’s website or just never ever do CPR on anyone, because if you push “gentle” they’re as good as dead anyways!

    Excellent Job by the dispatchers!

  • miahmdparash

    Hello
    It’s a nice article we can gather lot of experience from here.
    Thanks

  • dafrog

    This dispatcher did a fantastic job ! As a prior 911 dispatcher, these calls are very stressful and there are emergency medical dispatch protocols/flipcards that dispatchers follow. These instructions may vary slightly from the CPR the general pubilc is taught. Rather than nitpicking the dispatcher we should be say job well done!

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