Fire Department

Madison Fire EMTs are credited with saving the life of a child who went pulseless after choking on a bottle cap.

Ladder Co. 2 and Medic 6 responded to Tree Lane where an 11-month-old child put a bottle cap in his mouth and began to choke. The child was carried outside to meet first responders. Upon Ladder 2’s arrival, a Madison Police officer already on scene was performing back blows to try to clear the object from the child’s airway to no avail. Ladder 2 took over patient care, alternating between back blows and chest compressions. The obstruction would not budge. Within moments, the child’s heart stopped beating.

EMTs began performing CPR, and details of the situation were relayed to paramedics en route to the call. Paramedics advised the ladder crew to retrieve a Magill forceps and laryngoscope and to use these tools to pull the object out of the child’s airway. The ladder crew did so, and they successfully cleared the obstruction just as Medic 6 arrived on scene.

Paramedics cleared fluids from the patient’s mouth and airway, and the child’s oxygen saturation levels soon returned to normal. En route to the hospital, the child became more responsive and eventually began to cry, a welcome sound to all who had come to his aid.

Pictured: Magill forceps