Today's crumb was contributed by an alert reader in Redlands, CA. Imaging how you'd feel if you were a grandmother, entrusted to care for your granddaughter, and she died in your arms? That's what almost happened this week in Montgomery County, MD, except for some amazing coincidences. Montgomery County police officer Jim Herman was done for the day. The computer in his cruiser was switched off as he drove home, but he saw someone speeding on I-270 and pulled them over. As he stepped from his car, a man ran toward him screaming "help" and holding a 9-month-old girl. "She's not breathing," the man said, handing Herman the baby. Holding the limp infant in one arm, Herman could find no pulse, so right there, on the shoulder of the northbound lane, he gave the baby chest compressions using two fingers. He was quickly joined by a passing fireman who took the child so Herman could signal "infant code" on his radio, meaning a child in cardiac arrest.
Montgomery County Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Stephan Mann heard the call and rushed to the scene. After learning the baby was traveling with her grandparents when she stopped breathing, he praised them for having the wisdom to stop their car and ask for help from officer Herman.
The baby would not have survived if Herman had not been there to give her his immediate attention. "If that child makes a full recovery, it's only because of the quick actions of that officer and the wherewithal of the family to stop," Mann said. The baby, Kenzlee Cushman, is recovering well.
As for the driver who Herman had pulled over for speeding? She got away with a warning not to drive so fast. "I'm glad I stopped her," he said.
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