Rancho P.V.
Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies Dan Ploch and David Sivard were commended by the city Tuesday for saving the life of toddler Kristina Johnston on May 14.
The child’s parents said Kristina, then 17 months old, stopped breathing after she suffered a seizure and struck her head on a coffee table in her home.
Her father, Tom Johnston, revived the child with cardiopulmonary resuscitation while her mother, Donna, called the 911 emergency number. The two deputies from the Lomita sheriff’s station arrived within three minutes, Tom Johnston said.
As the squad car rushed the family to Torrance Memorial Hospital, Kristina stopped breathing and Ploch again revived her with CPR. Donna Johnston said they “would not have made it to the hospital so quickly in the rush-hour traffic” without the help of the deputies. The incident occurred at 7 a.m.
“Very often, we are ready to step in and tell the sheriffs when they’ve done something wrong,” said Councilwoman Jacki Bacharach. “It’s great when we can step in and tell them they’ve done something wonderful.”
Tom Johnston called his daughter’s seizure a freak occurrence because a battery of medical tests disclosed no abnormalities and she has never suffered any other seizures.
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