Posted by Katelyn Cordero / Poughkeepsie Journal on Jul 26th 2020
Fishkill officer saves 2-year-old's life with CPR
Fishkill officer saves 2-year-old's life with CPR
Katelyn Cordero / Poughkeepsie Journal
Jan 24, 2020
Officer Kevin Martyn visits Willa Splurgin days after he came into her home to perform live-saving CPR on the 2-year-old. Town Of Fishkill Police Department
The 2-year-old girl was lying in the entrance to her home, her skin turning a bluish-purple color.
Willa Spurgin was choking on food. Around 3:45 p.m. on Jan. 4, her parents dialed 911.
Luckily, Town of Fishkill police officer Kevin Martyn was around the corner from the residence when he received the call. He estimates he was able to respond within 45 seconds of the call.
"I got down and picked her up off the floor," Martyn said of performing CPR on the toddler. "I cradled her and used my right hand to give back blows then transferred her to the other arm and gave her five chest compressions."
After a minute, Martyn said, the child gasped for air. He said he continued performing CPR until the color returned to her face. Fellow responding officer Ray Maeang calmed Willa's parents.
Moments later, as EMTs closed the door to the ambulance headed for Vassar Brothers Medical Center, Martyn heard the two-year-old scream and cry for the first time.
"It was probably one of the best feelings I've ever had," Martyn said. "When I heard her screaming in the back of the ambulance I looked at the other officer and we hugged each other. We felt absolutely incredible."
Willa was brought to Vassar and then airlifted to Westchester Medical Center. Martyn said he waited four days to contact the family, out of concern for their privacy at, what he thought, may be a difficult time for them if Willa has suffered any repercussions from the incident. The wait, he said, was the hardest part.
"I called the house and I spoke to the mom and she was like, 'Oh, she's running around here like nothing happened,'" Martyn said.
This was the first time in Martyn's 22 year career as an officer that he had to use CPR on a child.
"I've had children injured but I've never had a child that close to dying," said Martyn. "I mean, she was right there, so everything that happened was perfect, if we go there a few moments later, we don't know what would have happened."
He said it's important that parents and all adults get trained in CPR, to know what to do during emergencies.
"I would encourage every parent, especially a new parent, to take CPR training and to keep up with it," Martyn said. "Chances are, it'll be your child, or you'll be in a restaurant and you can step up. In this situation, I was close, but you can't always depend on someone showing up at your house that quickly."
The former Town of New Castle officer recently came out of retirement to work with the Town of Fishkill part-time. He said performing CPR on a child near death is something that you hope to never come across.
"A little child like that, I have a daughter who is now 15-years-old and we've had our medical emergencies with our children and it's a scary thing," Martyn said. "You see this little life that you have in your hands, she's just laying there and she's helpless, and you just want to do everything you can without causing more damage."
Katelyn Cordero: kcordero@poughkeepsiejournal.com; 845-437-4870; Twitter: @KatelynCordero.