CPR in Back of Patrol Car Gives ‘Dead’ Baby a Chance

A 1-month-old Carson boy was in critical condition Thursday after he was rushed to a hospital by sheriff’s deputies and a firefighter who administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation in the back seat of a patrol car, hospital and police officials said.

Andre Gutierrez had stopped breathing as his father, Jose, put him to bed Wednesday night, according to Loretta Green, the boy’s grandmother. Jose Gutierrez then called 911 for help.

Sheriff’s Deputy Michael Ponce De Leon said he was a short distance from the house on Galway Avenue when he received the radio call.

“As I walked in the house, the baby was on the living room floor and the father was trying to administer CPR,” Ponce De Leon said. “I took over and checked for vital signs. There were none.”

When Sheriff’s Deputy Craig Yockey arrived, Ponce De Leon was already giving Andre mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, Yockey said.

“(Ponce) De Leon was so concentrated in giving the baby CPR he didn’t even notice I was there,” Yockey said. “I asked him if he wanted to just take the baby (to the hospital) ourselves, because the paramedics weren’t there, and he said ‘Let’s go.’ ”

Ponce De Leon and Yockey were administering CPR and chest compression outside the house when a firetruck pulled up. Firefighter Phil Arreguin grabbed a ventilator and attempted to revive Andre in the back seat of the patrol car while Ponce De Leon held the baby in his left hand and massaged the boy’s chest with his right hand.

Yockey raced to the hospital, messaging other patrol units that blocked intersections along the three-mile route.

“I am so pleased by the way (the deputies) responded to it,” Green said. “I don’t know their names, but I called the station to say they have two very good police officers on the force.”

Andre was revived at Los Angeles County Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance. He was admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit, where he was in critical condition Thursday afternoon, a hospital spokesperson said. Hospital officials could not say what caused the infant to stop breathing.

Andre and his twin brother, Andrew, were born two months’ premature.