Hero Southampton Police Officer Saves Baby's Life: 'It's a Great Feeling'

SOUTHAMPTON, NY- A baby in Westhampton is alive on Tuesday thanks to the actions of a hero Southampton Town police officer.

According to Southampton Town police, a call came in at 8:10 a.m. on February 3 from a Westhampton home where a baby boy was reportedly blue and not breathing.

The infant’s sister dialed 911 for help; Southampton Town Police Officer Kristian LoRusso responded to the home, where he heard her say the baby wasn’t breathing and ran inside.

Describing the life-or-death moment, Officer LoRusso said he ”sprang into action.”

Emotions, he said, came into play later, when he remembered the look on the baby’s mother’s face. Although he couldn’t communicate with the baby’s mom, who speaks no English, the terror of a parent fearful of losing their child is an emotion that transcends any language barrier, he said.

“I saw it in her face,” he said. “She handed me the baby, hoping for a miracle, as if to say, ‘Do something.’”

And that’s exactly what Officer LoRusso did, giving the infant pats on the back and then commencing with CPR, performing rescue breathing and chest compressions on the child until the baby subsequently began to breathe on his own, police said.

Finallly, the blessed sound of the baby’s crying filled the room.

At that point, he gave the baby oxygen.

The child had a history of seizures but it’s unclear if that was why he was unable to breathe, he said.

Officer LoRusso credited the baby’s sister, who was elementary-school aged, for her quick thinking, calling for help and explaining that her brother was having trouble breathing.

“She deserves a pat on the back for helping her brother,” he said.

Thankfully, when he got the call, he was only within a minute or two away and raced to the house.

Westhampton War Memorial Ambulance, he said, has a Spanish-speaking EMT who was able to speak to the baby’s mother. After giving the baby oxygen, EMTs brought the infant by ambulance to Peconic Bay Medical Center.

“I was there for the first two minutes by myself and then the calvary showed up and whisked everyone away,” Officer LoRusso said.

But those two minutes changed everything — Officer LoRusso is credited with saving the infant’s life.

Of the save, he said: “It’s a really good feeling. Something you can’t replicate.”

A father with children ages 8, 7 and 4, Officer LoRusso said he went home and hugged them a little more tightly that night.

He said he’d love to check on the baby and see how he’s faring.

The night is one of the pinnacles of a career spent helping others, he said. “It was great. There were definitely highs and lows. In the beginning, it was one of the worst call I’ve ever been one, and then, it was a highlight — so many aid cases don’t end in such a positive way,” he said.

Police Officer LoRusso has been with the Southampton Town Police Department for the past 16 years, where he has been assigned to the patrol division. Prior to joining the Southampton Town Police Department he worked in the New York City Police Department for two and a half years.

Reflecting on the save, Southampton Town Police Lt. Susan Ralph said: “It’s absolutely fantastic. This is what not just part of the job, it is actually the best part of the job, when we can actually go out and help people.”