Fire chief's training saves life

Due to the quick response from Flomaton Fire Chief Steve Stanton, Paxton Gibson, who turned 3 weeks old yesterday (Wednesday) is alive and well after the infant was close to death Sunday night.

The events began unfolding at 11:24 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 17, when 21-year old Olivia Gibson dialed 911 and told the Flomaton dispatcher that her 3-week old child was not breathing and she had begun CPR and gave the address of 135 Bridal Path Lane.

Stanton said he got out of bed and headed that way and then got another call from dispatch that Olivia had called back and had her young son in her car and was at the stop sign at intersection of Bridal Path Lane and Gandy Lane, driving a blue car.

Stanton was the first on the scene.

"I walked up and she's sitting there with the door open," Stanton said. "I grabbed the baby from her arms."

Stanton said young Paxton was not breathing and was turning blue. Stanton said he turned the baby over and began tapping him hard on his back and immediately felt the infant boy spit up saliva on his arm. Stanton continued to tap the child on the back and then Paxton started breathing.

"He had turned blue and wasn't breathing," Stanton said. "Ironically I had just gone through another training that dealt with infants."

Stanton said Brewton Fireman Dustin Postalwait, who also serves as an EMT, had conducted the class and told those in attendance if they encountered an infant who was choking and not breathing they needed to turn it over and begin compressions on the back.

Stanton said once the infant threw up a few times, it began breathing as they waited on the ambulance to take the child to D.W. McMillan Memorial Hospital.

"When you see a child turning blue, it's never a good sign," Stanton said. "I was very happy when he started breathing."

Olivia said young Paxton had eaten about 30 minutes earlier and she put him to bed and went into the kitchen to wash dishes. She said she heard him making noises that appeared he was choking.

She said when she got to his bedroom her son had mucus and spit up coming out of his nose. She said she used a suction cup she received from the hospital to try to suck it out of his nose and noticed his face started turning blue.

"I called 911 and probably gave my address six times," Olivia said. "I grabbed him, put him in the car and began driving down the road."

She said she then looked up and Stanton was standing there and he took the baby into his arms.

"It took a good while before the ambulance got there, but he was breathing," Olivia said. "I'm grateful for Steve being there and grateful for having people who respond so quickly, even though it seemed like an eternity."

Little Paxton stayed at the hospital until the next afternoon and Olivia said they arrived back home about 4 p.m. and doctor followups show the baby is fine.

Stanton, 68, has been a member of the Flomaton Volunteer Fire Department for 44 years, but noted the training he and other firemen continue to go through prepares them for situations like that.

"It was kind of ironic that I had just gone through a class dealing with that exact situation," Stanton said.