Cop Revives Drowning Son With CPR In Nutley

As an emergency responder, you can perform CPR with a complete cool a hundred times with the right training.

But when it’s your own son that you’re working on, all the rules go out the window.

On Sunday, an off-duty Old Bridge police officer was faced with the daunting task of performing CPR on his drowning, five-year-old son during a family barbecue on Hickory Road in Nutley.

According to Nutley Police Det. Anthony Montanari, the family members were relaxing in a pool when the boy jumped off the deck into the water.

The boy went unnoticed – spending a significant time submerged – until the child’s father discovered him and pulled his unresponsive son to safety.

And that’s when he began to administer CPR.

“The fact that the father’s instincts were so quick and he was able to take care of his son that way was remarkable,” Montanari told Patch. “I have to tell you, as a first responder, everything goes out the window when you’re working on an immediate family member. And the only way that [your training] works is by practice and repetition.”

“That’s apparently what happened with this boy’s dad, who I imagine was frantic,” Montanari added.

In this case, however, many hours of police training paid off.

By the time that several frantic 911 calls got through and Nutley emergency responders arrived on the scene, the child was successfully resuscitated without injury.

Apart from a “slight lethargy,” the boy was medically cleared and didn’t require any further treatment, Montanari said.

The incident is a good example of why emergency medical training is important for every resident, not just emergency responders, he said.

“I think at the very least, every parent should know the basic life support safety measures,” Montanari told Patch.

File photo by HomeAndGardners.com

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