Being a parent for the first time can be a scary experience. You have this tiny human who is and will depend on you for everything while they’re growing up.
And while parents are not expected to know everything about raising children, there’s still that guilt they feel when something wrong happens to their child.
This is a perfect example of that.
That’s what first-time parents, Joe and Katelin Chronister, must have felt when their 3-week-old baby started choking.
They quickly called 911 for help.
Especially when their baby’s breathing became different.
“When your baby turns purple, that ain’t going well. That’s scary. We panicked,” Joe told Inside Edition.
Officer Cody Hubbard of the Pottsville Police Department in Arkansas took the call and prayed the baby was still conscious when he got there.
Officer Hubbard is also a dad and he had the same experience with his own child.
He knew exactly what they felt.
When he arrived at the Chronister house, Joe and Katelin, as well as their parents, were already waiting outside with the newborn, who was already purple.
“It’s like he’s holding his breath,” the baby’s grandmother described her grandson’s current condition.
Officer Hubbard took the baby and started slapping his back. He did this several times to try to clear his airway.
Finally, the baby cried.
But it still sounded like the baby was still struggling to breathe.
Officer Hubbard did this several times until they finally heard a big cry come out of the baby’s mouth. He was going to be fine.
“It felt good to see how that came out and the look in their eyes once their baby started crying. I’ll never forget something like that,” Officer Hubbard said.
It turns out the baby started to choke when they gave him gas relief drops because of stomach pains.
It’s not uncommon but not well known.
While it’s safe to give these drops to newborns, there is a proper way to administer them, especially with newborns.
Dr. Dyan Hes MD of Gramercy Pediatrics shared a few tips on how to prepare the baby for the drops.
“When you’re giving your baby medicine… you should give it to the baby with the head up in your arms. You can stroke the cheeks… and their mouth will open because they think food is coming,” Dr. Hes explained. “The medicine will go to the side of the tongue. You don’t have to give it all at once. And if [the dropper] is pulling up, then tickle the chin and that’ll signal [the baby] to swallow.”
If the Chronisters didn’t know this before, they know this now and prevent any more emergency situations with their baby.
The viewers were thankful Officer Hubbard was the one who responded to their emergency.
But a lot of them agreed, that information on emergency situations like this with children should be taught to everyone, especially new parents.
And it needs to be given for free.
In some cities, classes like this are being offered for hundreds of dollars.
See Officer Hubbard save this baby’s life in the video below!
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