Two Villa Rica police officers planned to meet at a Chick-fil-A for lunch Thursday.
However, they ended up stumbling into a toddler having a medical emergency and sprang into action, potentially saving the 2-year-old girl’s life.
Officer Amber Troglin told AJC.com she was about to meet Officer Sam Short for lunch at the restaurant at 85 Commerce Drive and pulled into the only parking spot available. Two spots away, a panicked mother got her attention.
“I saw a mother holding a little baby, who is barely 2 years old, and her skin was very pale, her body was limp and I could see she was barely breathing,” Troglin said.
Short arrived moments later, and both of them began to administer aid to the child, who was going in and out of consciousness. Troglin said they didn’t have to perform CPR since the child never stopped breathing, but her heart rate was erratic.
The officers had called an ambulance, but they quickly heard from dispatch that it would be delayed since the nearest one was responding to another call.
“That’s when we realized the ambulance was going to be extended, so we made the decision to put her in the back of Officer Short’s vehicle ... and we rode to the hospital,” Troglin said.
Short drove Troglin, the child and her mother to Tanner Hospital, where the child remains in stable condition, the police department said in a Facebook post. It’s unclear what illness was affecting the 2-year-old.
“Time flies when you’re in situations like that,” Troglin said. “It’s one of those moments where you’re thankful for your training, and honestly God put us in the right place at the right time. It was just meant to be.”
After dropping them off, the two officers were able to return to the restaurant to grab lunch, but they went back to the hospital shortly after to check on the child. A nonprofit provides teddy bears to the police department to give to children in need, and when they gave the child one, her face lit up with “a huge smile,” Short said.
Capt. Keith Shaddix said the department’s policy is to not take injured people to the hospital since an ambulance is better able to offer treatment while on the move in addition to added liability. However, he praised the officers’ actions and quick thinking, since in this situation it might have saved the child’s life.
“It’s not a good practice, but there’s always exceptions, and there should always be exceptions for officers to use good judgment, even if it’s against practice,” he said. “I can’t say how proud I am of both the officers and their sound judgment call.”
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