SANTA PAULA : CHP Officer Saves Choking Baby Girl
The parents of a 9-month-old Santa Paula girl can’t complain about being stopped by a rookie California Highway Patrol officer Sunday night: The same officer who pulled their car over may have saved their daughter’s life.
About 9 p.m., Officer Vaughn Parsons pulled over a Pontiac on California 126 near Wells Road for driving without a headlight. After he finished issuing a warning to Jose Arredondo Vargas, Vargas “ran frantically back” to the officer’s patrol car and said his daughter was choking, Lt. Terry Enright said.
Parsons, 28, who joined the CHP in January, noticed that although the girl had a pulse, she wasn’t breathing.
“Since the baby wasn’t breathing, apparently, the officer did what we call back blows, where you pound on the child’s back . . . to dislodge anything that might be in the child’s airway,” Enright said.
Paula Arredondo resumed breathing after the officer’s action, he said. Emergency crews arrived and took the child to Santa Paula Memorial Hospital, where she was treated and released.
“He’s due some credit here because I think he was in the right place at the right time and certainly assisted the family,” Enright said.
Parsons could not be reached for comment.
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