LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A newborn baby stopped breathing and was unconscious when her parents found help at a west Louisville gas station.
Monday evening, Louisville Metro Police First Division Officers Noah Cole and Nick Greene had just started their shift when they were approached by the child's father. The father spoke limited English, but was in desperate need of help.
Louisville Metro Police First Division Officers Noah Cole and Nick Greene. (WDRB photo)
"He said 'My baby's no Bueno' so that means my baby is no good," explained Greene.
"We both exited the store," said Cole. "He took off after the baby."
In the parking lot of Shorty's Food Mart on 18th and West Broadway, the officers found the mother and baby in the back seat of a pickup truck.
"The baby was in the mother's hands, and it was lifeless, at that point," Greene said.
"On every run, everybody has a job. His job at that point was taking care of that baby," said Cole.
Greene said he started doing CPR on the baby while Cole radioed for help.
"I had to get EMS and fire there as soon as possible because seconds count," Cole said.
Seconds later, there were signs of life from the newborn and a sigh of relief for the officers and parents.
"When the baby started screaming and whining, that was like, okay, we're getting oxygen to the brain because oxygen being inside that body is good," said Greene. "So, that was the ultimate sigh of relief."
Greene and Cole are rookie officers, but they've both had CPR training.
"Trained for CPR for adults and babies," Greene said.
You don't have to be a first responder to learn CPR.
Lt. Greg Lile, with Louisville Metro EMS, has responded to hundreds of life and death situations.
"A lot of times whenever somebody calls 911, our call takers will actually guide them through how to start CPR on the scene before we get there," Lile said.
Lile is a paramedic and said learning CPR can help save time and lives.
"The more that you can know and the more quicker that we can get somebody on the scene that is trained and provide some of these life-saving measures, the better off that person's going to be," he said.
Chances are good that the officers saved the baby's life, but they still don't see themselves as heroes.
"It's something we took an oath to do," said Cole. "Serve and protect our community and that's just part of the job, another day on the job."
The baby's name is Emma. She was admitted to the hospital but released on Thursday.
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