Off Duty Berkeley Heights Police Dispatcher Saves Neighbor's Life

Bob Quirk was resting in between shifts at about 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 3, when his neighbor’s nine year old son knocked on the door and told his wife that his father was choking on a chicken bone and needed help.

Quirk, a resident of Hillsborough, and a full time Police Dispatcher with the Berkeley Heights Police Department who also works part-time with the Union County Police Department leapt to his feet, and ran next door to find his neighbor John Doran, slumped over the kitchen sink.

“I came up on his left side and could hear his heart beating but I didn’t feel him breathing. He wasn’t responding when I spoke to him,” Quirk said.

At that point Quirk, who is 6’2’ and 270 pounds, lifted Doran up and performed the Heimlich Maneuver.

“I gave him four shots and he then came to and started coughing,” Quirk said.

He said the Hillsborough police arrived within a few minutes and Doran walked out to the ambulance on his own.

In a letter to Berkeley Heights Police Chief Mathis, Julia Doran expressed her deep appreciation for Quirk’s actions to save her husband’s life.

The Doran’s have been neighbors of the Quirk’s for six years and their daughters have become best friends.

“My husband John and I and our nine year old son, Jonathan had just sat down to eat take-out chicken at about 6:30 p.m. My husband took a bite out of his chicken and began to cough, which was not unusual to me as he had a bad cold for the past couple of weeks. He proceeded to get up from the table and go into the kitchen. After a few seconds passed, I heard him begin to gag, I went into the kitchen and John had himself bent forward over the kitchen sink, I asked him if he was okay, and he didn't respond at that point,” Doran said.

“I realized he was choking on what must have been a chicken bone. As I looked closer at his face I noticed he was starting to turn purple and instructed my son to run next door and get Bob, while I called 911. less than two minutes later Bob came running in asked what was going on and immediately went to John he checked for any sign of breathing, but there was none. He lifted John in an upright position and administered the Heimlich Maneuver,” she said.

She said when the bone was expelled, color began to return to her husband’s face and he was able to breathe again.

“We are convinced that Bob saved John's life. Had it not been for his quick response and his calm professional assessment and reaction to the situation, John would have been forced to wait for the ambulance which did not arrive until at least two minutes after Bob got there,” Doran said.

This was the second time that Quirk used his life-saving skills. The first time was on his own wife, 13 years ago.

“My daughter was three years old and my wife had been eating hard candy and it became lodged in her throat. My daughter who was alone with my wife came downstairs to tell me that her mother couldn’t breathe,” Quirk said.

When he got to her room, he found his wife gasping for breath and performed the Heimlich Maneuver dislodging the candy that shot across the room.

A Lucky and Grateful Neighbor

An emergency room physician told Julia Doran that since her husband is 51 years old, there is a world of difference between being unconscious for one to two minutes as opposed to two to four minutes.

Doran wrote in her letter to Mathis, “Needless to say our family is eternally grateful to Bob and are very proud to be his neighbor. In our eyes he is truly a hero. I don't know what your departmental procedure is, but if there is an award or commendation given to your employees for heroic acts, Bob Quirk is truly deserving.”