Body cam footage shows Ohio police officers saving choking 2-month-old girl
Body camera footage captured the moment an Ohio police officer saved a 2-month-old girl who was choking on milk.
Shaker Heights police officers Ryan Sidders and Alex Oklander approached what they believe to be a disabled car on Lee Road in Shaker Heights, Ohio, Tuesday around 9 a.m. when they noticed that the driver of the car, Tamika Pruitte, appeared to be distressed, Cmdr. John Cole told ABC News.
The video begins as Sidders and Oklander approach the sedan, and Oklander pulls the baby -- clad in a pink onesie -- out of her car seat.
"She's choking," Sidders can be heard saying to his partner in the video.
Oklander then holds the baby face down at an angle and gently pats her on the back. She then spit out the milk, Cole said.
Sidders then says that he "can hear air moving" and determines that the baby girl is OK.
"OK, she's breathing," Sidders says before handing the baby back to her mother.
Pruitte, who lives in Cleveland, told ABC News that she and her daughter, Tyra, were running errands Tuesday morning. They were on their way to pick up her best friend for work when she turned around and saw that Tyra "looked red" and had milk coming out of her nose.
"I always check back there on her because she's a preemie," Pruitte said, adding that after Tyra was born premature, doctors warned her that a birth defect may cause her to throw up her milk.
"You can burp her three times, and she'll still puke up her milk," the mother of two said.
Pruitte said that she stopped the car, and the police officers who were driving behind her immediately rushed in to help.
When the officers approached, Pruitte was already in the backseat of the car, unbuckling Tyra's car seat, she said. That's when Oklander pulled her out of the seat and began to administer aid.
Although Pruitte was grateful for the help, the 26-year-old mother said she "could've done it herself."
"This is nothing new," Pruitte said. "It just happened."
After the ordeal, medics on the scene determined that Tyra was OK, and the two went about their day, Pruitte said.
Tuesday was the first time Sidders and Oklander have attended to a choking baby on the job, Cole said. Oklander was hired by the police department in January right out of the police academy and has only been on active duty for three months, Cole said.
"He was pretty excited," Cole said of Oklander. "He's got four boys."
Sidders has been with the department for four years and was a volunteer medic for five years before that, "which probably helped him" during the incident, Cole said.
First aid is part of the police officers' basic training, Cole said.
