Rescue in New York City: Doorman and EMTs Save Abandoned Newborn Outside Luxury Apartments
A group of New York City spectators, including a doorman and several emergency medical technicians, hurried to save a newborn infant who had been abandoned outside of an apartment building, giving the child a second chance at life.
The baby’s cries were heard by the doorman of the West 23rd Street luxury apartment building where he works in the Chelsea section of Manhattan around 3:15 a.m. on Thursday, July 11, according to the police.
Police said the unidentified infant was alive and aware as he lay on the pavement, blanketed but otherwise unclothed, with his umbilical cord still connected.
The man who slept beneath the High Line, Ronald Robertson, told NBC New York that he had heard the infant cry a few minutes earlier and had hailed down the doorman.
It is reported that as two emergency medical technicians, Mia Chin and Patrick Feimer, were wrapping up their shift at FDNY EMS Station 7, the doorman hurriedly ran across the street to tap on the window of an ambulance.
According to a Facebook post published by the FDNY, Chin and her partner got to work right away, rushing to the aid of the newborn and bringing him inside the station for more medical treatment. The infant was subsequently transferred to a neighboring hospital by paramedics Dennison Rougier and Jack Kaddah, according to the agency.
“We just fell back on our training,” Chin said during the press conference, according to CBS News New York. “We relied on what the fire department has taught us time and time again, and we immediately brought the infant to our desk lieutenant and waited for medics to transport the child to Bellevue [Hospital].”
“Getting a knock on the window like that, you don’t know what you’re going to walk into,” Feimer said, per the outlet. “So we just ran over and tried to assess the situation and when we saw [the newborn], that’s when you kind of snap into action.”
“When I approached the infant it was crying and cooing and waving, and I was just so happy that the child was alive, was well, didn’t have any obvious injuries,” Chin added.
According to several publications, the mother, Ayatta Swann, 37, was recognized after she checked herself into the hospital where the infant was transferred. Swann was reportedly charged with child abandonment by the New York Police Department.
During the press conference, Laura Kavanagh, the New York City Fire Commissioner, brought attention to the state’s safe haven law. This law permits adults to leave babies “up to 30 days of age” in a secure setting, like a hospital or fire station, without disclosing any further information, so long as they inform a “appropriate person,” according to the Office of Children and Family Services.
“We are very lucky that that doorman was able to alert them and that they were there so we could intervene right away,” Kavanagh said during the press conference, according to CBS News New York. “You can bring [newborns] to the station or the firehouse or police precinct and knock on the door and not be asked any additional questions.”
According to Kavanagh, the newborn “is going to survive.”
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