'Not Really Breathing At All': 911 Dispatcher Considered Hero For Coaching Parents To Bring Newborn Back To Life

BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) - A 911 dispatcher is being heralded as a hero for his quick and calm coaching of parents that brought their baby back to life.

"They handled the situation very well considering their preemie was not breathing at the moment," Rob Schimoler, a Boulder County dispatcher, said.

The first 911 call didn't connect, but Schimoler called the number back and started talking with the baby's father.

"I don't know, he was just feeding and now he's like not really breathing at all... he's not responding," the father said on the 911 call.

The family leaves in a remote part of the foothills up Coal Creek Canyon. Schimoler says he immediately knew that meant paramedics would take several precious minutes to reach the family home.

"You have to be calm, you have to get them the help they need as quickly as possible," Schimoler said. "I try and do the best job I can every day."

He coached the parents through infant CPR including breathing and rapid chest compressions. After several minutes the baby started to cry and color returned to the infant's face.

The Boulder County Sheriff's Office gave Schimoler a lifesaving award, and shared comments from the Coal Creek Canyon Assistant Fire Chief that said, "I wanted to reach out to commend your dispatch team on this morning's one-month-old patient [edited for privacy]. I'm not sure who was guiding the parents through infant CPR, but they certainly deserve a shout-out. The infant had just started breathing and crying on our arrival. We had a lot to do to stabilize this newborn, but it would not have been possible without the good CPR prior to our arrival. Our jobs, both in Dispatch and Fire, are challenging and we often do not achieve the patient outcomes that we would like, but the success of today's incident makes all the training and sacrifices we endure so worth it. We were fortunate that it was our day to be heroes. Strong work!"