Nearly Drowned Baby Cries as R.I. Crews Enter Hospital

Aug. 18--PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- As a firefighter carried her through hospital doors, an infant near-drowning victim began breathing again Wednesday afternoon, crying aloud and relieving a fire-rescue crew that had administered CPR and made other attempts to save the baby.

Firefighters from Engine 12 and Rescue 4, had rushed to 59 Crandall St. at 2:39 p.m., after dispatchers learned of a reported drowning involving a baby, said acting Battalion Chief Stephen Capracotta.

The baby girl was motionless, blue and lying on a living room floor when firefighters found her, he said.

The firefighters, began attempts to resuscitate the baby and simultaneously loaded her into a fire rescue transport, joined by a captain from Rescue 5. Efforts to revive the child sputtered as they rolled to Hasbro Children's Hospital.

An effort to treat the child with an intravenous injection was unsuccessful, but firefighters did remove a lot of water from the baby's lungs, Capracotta said. CPR was administered continuously, he said.

About halfway to the hospital, he said, one of the firefighters thought that he felt some movement from the infant. But the baby still wasn't breathing as they pulled in to Hasbro.

A firefighter, cradling the baby in his arms, rushed toward the emergency room, pushing through the hospital doors.

Right then, said Capracotta, the firefighter heard the child crying and saw her breathing.

"These guys did a great job," he said.

Capracotta said he could not provide the name of the baby or her parents, who had tried on their own to revive the baby. The child had experienced the effects of drowning in a bathtub, he said.

Police are investigating what happened to the child, said Providence police Lt. Luis San Lucas.

--mreynold@providencejournal.com

(401) 277-7490

On Twitter: @mrkrynlds

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