FL Dispatcher's CPR Instructions Help Save Toddler

A woman wailed over the phone to an Orange County 911 dispatcher.

“My 1-year-old just fell in the pool,” she said.

“He’s not responding.”

The dramatic 9-1-1 call released by Orange County Fire Rescue Wednesday revealed the moments just after a 1-year-old nearly drowned in the 400 block of Bonifay Avenue in Orlando on Christmas Day.

In the five-minute call, the dispatcher quickly gave CPR instructions to another woman, who relayed them to a neighbor she said was trying to perform chest compressions on the child, but didn’t know how.

The boy wasn’t breathing.

“His color’s not right,” the woman said.

The dispatcher talked the neighbor through mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, instructing him to put one hand on the boy’s forehead and the other under the neck to tilt his head back.

“Pinch his nose closed and completely cover his mouth with your mouth,” the dispatcher instructed. “And then blow two regular breaths into the lungs.”

The boy began gurgling, the neighbor said.

As the dispatcher walked the neighbor through chest compressions, a man in the background was howling.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” the man can be heard saying.

Firefighters arrived at the house off Lake Underhill Road near Econlockhatchee Trail about 3 p.m. and resuscitated the child. He was taken to Arnold Palmer Hospital in serious condition.

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