5-Day-Old Baby Saved; Cops Take Over Ambulance, Bring Child Back To Life

The call came in: A baby was not breathing.

There was no time to waste.

Hopatcong police officers jumped into action Saturday afternoon when the call came in. When the ambulance drivers weren’t immediately available, the officers drove the rig themselves.

“The one [ambulance] member came in, but there was nobody else,” said Lt. Thomas Kmetz said.

Now they are being credited with the infant’s life.

“I personally commend these officers for their quick response and decision to take the ambulance when time was of the essence,” Kmetz said.

According to police:

Officers Robert Haffner and Christopher Lotito responded to a home on West River Styx Road for an unresponsive baby at 1:22 p.m., Kmetz said.

Upon arrival, the officers found a 5-day-old not breathing. Lotito began CPR, Kmetz said, when Lt. Robert Unhoch and Haffner took the baby to the Hopatcong Ambulance Squad.

Unhoch then drove the ambulance to Dover Hospital, with Haffner and an ambulance EMT performing rescue breathing with a bag valve mask, Kmetz said.

The baby’s pulse returned. Roxbury Police cleared all traffic lights while Unhoch continued his drive to Dover General Hospital, Kmetz said.

The trauma team there took over the medical aid of the newborn, who was then taken to Morristown Medical Center’s pediatric intensive care unit.

“Thank you to the Roxbury Police Officers who cleared the way,” Kmetz said. “I commend Dispatcher Judy Wolff who coordinated with Roxbury Police, MICU and Dover Hospital. Because of their actions a life was brought back.”