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Staff members’ quick response saves Tinker baby’s life

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  • By Nicole Turner
  • Tinker Public Affairs
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  Quick thinking and the rapid response of the staff at Tinker's Child Development Center West saved the life of a two-month old baby boy on March 14.

When Blake Polles arrived at the CDC in the early morning, Pam Marlow, the infant's primary caregiver, noted that he seemed to have a cold. Abiding by her instincts, she kept him in a baby carrier close to her so she could watch him more closely instead of lying him down in a bed.

Blake slept for a short time and then Ms. Marlow was relieved for lunch by Carolyn Madden.

"I changed Blake's diaper and was holding him when he started fussing, then I noticed he was turning a little blue around the edges," said Ms. Madden. "He turned very limp and was not breathing so I laid him down on the changing table and started very simple CPR."

While Ms. Madden gave him CPR, another caregiver, Diana Starks, summoned help from the front desk clerk, Robyn Lester.

"The front desk is the control center for everything that happens," said CDC director Nessa McCarty. "So they alert the supervisors and make the 911 call, and they stay on the line with 911 and provide additional information."

Ms. Lester also began efforts to notify Blake's mother, Capt. Diana Polles with the 960th Airborne Air Control Squadron.

Other CDC employees who responded to the infant were Ms. McCarty and Drusilla Calhoun, training and curriculum specialist.

Ms. Calhoun, who is the CDC CPR trainer, relieved Ms. Madden from CPR. Ms. Calhoun said Blake was turning blue, which means his heart had stopped.

"When the heart stops, minutes are very crucial," Ms. Calhoun said. "You don't want to have the heart stopped for a long period of time, so it was very, very important that (Ms. Madden) started CPR."

Ms. Calhoun took over and continued the rescue breathing and chest compressions. After about two minutes of CPR he began breathing as emergency personnel, and Captain Polles, arrived on the scene.

Ms. Calhoun has been certified in CPR for 20 years. But she has never before had to perform CPR on an infant until now.

"It doesn't matter how much skill you have or if you know what to do. You are still nervous because you don't know if it's going to be effective. I was very nervous," Ms. Calhoun said.

Blake was stabilized and transported by ambulance with his mother's accompaniment to Midwest Regional Medical Center.

"We have to become certified in CPR and first aid," Ms. McCarty said. "That's one of our requirements within the first six months of our employment, and then reoccurring training prior to its expiration. So every month we are doing (training) for someone in this building."

Ms. McCarty said when Blake responded and began crying everyone in the room was glad and could breathe a "sigh of relief."

"We were all very happy," Ms. McCarty said, "we all started clapping and cheering."

Later that same evening, Blake was sent to OU Children's Hospital where he went into cardiac arrest again but was quickly stabilized. After tests, he was diagnosed with bronchitis and also some heart complications.

Blake is doing well now. He returned to the CDC on March 24 with a heart monitor, which observes his heartbeats and informs CDC employees of the condition of his heart.

In April, Ms. Calhoun will have two CPR training sessions specifically for the infant caregivers. The CDC employs 12 staff in 4 infant rooms, which takes care of 32 babies.

"It's mainly to give them a refresher of the techniques," Ms. Calhoun said. "They will be more confident if something happens, and it will reassure them to relax when they are doing CPR. The CPR course will stress the importance of quick response when a baby stops breathing, because time is of the essence and you have to quickly do rescue breathing and chest compressions."

(Becky Pillifant, 72nd Force Support Squadron, contributed to this story.)