EXCLUSIVE: New Windsor firefighter credited with saving choking baby
New Windsor firefighters jumped into action Tuesday night when a woman pulled up to their firehouse with a choking baby in her back seat.
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Thirty years of training were put to the test on Tuesday for New Windsor firefighter Jorge Resto.
“The baby was gasping. She said her baby was choking,” says Resto.
The volunteer firefighter and CPR instructor was at a firehouse drill at the department’s headquarters on Walsh Avenue with his fellow volunteers that night when he says a frantic mom pulled up in her car with her 6-month-old baby and her young son in the middle of an emergency.
Resto says two other firefighters went up to the car and yelled for help when they realized the baby was choking, and Resto ran out.
“The baby’s eyes opened up and you could tell that she was gagging,” Resto says. “I started patting the back. That’s when a 1-inch piece of plastic came out of her mouth.”
Resto is seen on firehouse surveillance images given to News 12 as he dislodged what he said was a juice box straw wrapper from the baby’s mouth.
Thanks to his quick-thinking actions the baby is OK.
“The man upstairs, it was great that we were actually here at the time,” Resto says.
Department rescuers would normally be on call and the volunteer firehouse would be empty at night.
Resto says the baby was taken by New Windsor EMS to the hospital for evaluation and released.
