19 July 2023 , 18:17
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Dramatic body cam footage shows the moment a cop managed to save a young toddler found unconscious in a pool.
Officer Nathan Sears rushed to help the boy as his parents desperately performed CPR on him for around a minute.
Officer Sears, from Sterling Heights PD, in Michigan, USA, grabbed the child and beat him on the back to clear the water from his airways.
In the footage, the young child can be heard making gurgling sounds while struggling to breathe, before he is given a blow to his back by Officer Sears.
He is then heard crying loudly as he begins to breathe again.
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Sterling Heights PD said on Facebook: "After about a minute of the mother giving compressions and the father giving breaths, the young boy spit up some of the water and began gasping for breath.
'The young boy spit up some of the water and began gasping for breath,' cops said"Officer Sears picked the young boy up, flipping him over to give back blows to help clear his airway."
A spokesperson from Sterling Heights PD added: "The family were having a pool party.
"The parents got distracted and went to the front yard for a bit, that's when the boy fell in."
The boy was taken to the hospital and cleared with no injuries.
The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said children in the US aged one to four died from drowning than any other cause of death.
There are an estimated 4,000 fatal unintentional drownings every year, this includes adults and children.
Officer Sears ran to help the boy (SWNS)WebMD has advice for any parents or guardian suddenly confronted with a potentially drowning child.
If they are not alone, a nearby lifeguard should be notified, or someone else who can call the emergency services.
If the guardian is on their own, they should take the stricken individual out of the water as soon as they can and then place their ear next to the person's mouth to see if they are breathing.
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Checking for breathing can be done by looking to see if their chest is moving or if their breath can be felt on the cheek of the person rescuing them.
If the person is not breathing, the rescuer should then check their pulse for 10 seconds.
The child was carried to the front of the house where paramedics were waiting (SWNS)Advice for what to do next then differs depending on whether the person being treated is an adult or child.
For children, WebMD recommends:
- Carefully place the child on their back.
- Tilt head back and lift the chin. For a baby, be careful not to tilt the head back too far.
- With an older child, pinch the nose closed and put your mouth over the child's mouth, forming a tight seal. With an infant, place your mouth over both the baby's nose and mouth.
- Blow into the child's mouth for 1 second. You should see their chest rise.
- Repeat the breath a second time.
Chest compressions should then begin with the following steps:
- For a child, place the heel of one hand on the center of the chest at the nipple line. For an infant, place two fingers on the breastbone.
- Press down at least 2 inches for a child, about 1 and 1/2 inches for an infant. Make sure not to press on the ribs or the end of the breastbone.
- Do 30 chest compressions, at the rate of 100 per minute. Let the chest rise completely between pushes.
- Check to see if the child has started breathing.
If the person treated is still not breathing, then:
- If you've been trained in CPR, you can now add two rescue breaths to the adult CPR cycle. Open the airway by tilting the head back and lifting the chin.
- Pinch the nose of the victim closed. Take a normal breath, cover the victim's mouth with yours to create an airtight seal, and then give 2 one-second breaths as you watch for the chest to rise.
- Give two breaths followed by 30 chest compressions.
- Continue the cycle of 30 compressions and two breaths until the person starts breathing or emergency help arrives.
The medical website that the list of instructions above should not replace a first aid or CPR course.