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Dr Gérald Kierzek (Medical Director of Doctissimo)
Medical validation:
June 8, 2024
In the United States, a newborn was resuscitated by a young soldier. A miracle, which results from good knowledge of the first actions, underlines Dr Gérald Kierzek, medical director of Doctissimo.
In Kiowa County, Colorado, a little girl named Brexley suddenly stopped breathing while she was out for a walk with her parents. The distraught family was eventually rescued by a soldier, who performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on the little girl.
The little girl was resuscitated
Gracie Gray and Kahl Huffman were traveling along U.S. Highway 54 in Kiowa County when their little girl lost consciousness and started turning purple.
“On the way to church, she started crying weirdly, so I asked Kahl to stop,” the young mother told “Good Morning America.”
“She lost consciousness. I rubbed her back and patted her back and started rubbing her chest a little and she came to for a little while then shortly after she passed out again“Gracie Gray continued.
The young parents, helpless, begin to panic.
“There’s not much you can do on the side of the road to get what she actually needs. So it was scary“, continued the young mother, describing the situation as “very traumatic.”
To save their baby, young parents have the good idea to call 911 – the North American emergency number. Within minutes, a soldier, Evan Jacks, answered the call.
Once there, he decides to perform a cardiac massage (a cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), learned from paramedics.
“I put his chest on my arm and rubbed his back. I patted her on the back quite vigorously until she started to cry“, confides the young soldier with emotion.
Safe and sound, the infant was later transferred to Children’s Hospital in Kansas City.
Baby who loses consciousness: the first steps to know
“It is essential to know the actions that save children: cardiac massage and unblocking airways in the event of total obstruction (choking)“, reveals Dr Gérald Kierzek, medical director of Doctissimo.
In infants, cardiac massage should be performed as follows:
- “Position the infant on his back, on a hard surface (floor, table), chest exposed“.
- “Place two fingers on the sternum, approximately two to three centimeters above the junction of the last ribs“.
- “Compress 100 to 120 times per minute, pressing one third of the thickness of the baby’s body“.
Still in young children – who fit on the forearm – the medical director of Doctissimo still recommends:
- “Lay the victim astride the forearm, face down.” ;
- “Hold your head with your fingers, on either side of your mouth (at the angle of the lower jaw), without pressing on your throat” ;
- “Tilt the infant so that the head is lower than the chest ;
- “Give 1 to 5 slaps between the two shoulder blades with the heel of your open hand..
Then, still in infants or young children, it is appropriate to alternate with compressions, if the previous method has proven ineffective:
- “Place the forearm against the infant’s back, supporting the infant’s head with the hand” ;
- “Turn the infant so that his face is skyward” ;
- “Press the forearm on which the infant is resting on his thigh”;
- “The infant’s head should be lower than the rest of the body.” ;
- “Place the pads of two fingers of one hand in the axis of the sternum, one finger width above a mark formed by the bottom of the sternum, at the junction of the last ribs. ;
- “Perform 1 to 5 deep, successive compressions, releasing the chest between each one.”