A Child Saved, Then Taken

Story by Ex-Captain Steve Grogan

 

A three year old girl from Oceanside, who was brought back to life by Lynbrook Fire Department Emergency Medical Company paramedics, has now reportedly died three days later from injuries received in a car accident on Ocean Avenue on the afternoon of December 7, 2010.

At about 1:45 PM that day, the girl was riding in the back of her father’s car with her twin brother, when the car struck a tree head-on near the intersection of Ruth Place.   Lynbrook police stated to the Herald newspaper that the father may have fallen asleep at the wheel. 

Second Deputy Chief Anthony DeCarlo, along with the Emergency Medical Company and the LFD’s Extrication Team, responded to the reported one car accident.    When the Medical Company paramedics arrived, a passing a NYC paramedic was lifting the three year old from the back seat of the car with the assistance of a pediatric nurse who was also driving by the scene.  Both laid the child on the ground and began CPR. 

Medical Company Captain Tracey LaBarbera then took over but the child was already cold, her eyes dilated, and she still had no pulse.  The child was then immobilized and placed on a long board with a collar and quickly moved to the LFD ambulance.  They were on the scene for only approximately three minutes before the ambulance left for the hospital.  In the ambulance, Firefighter/AEMT Lynn Curtis established an airway and administered oxygen while Captain LaBarbera initiated a line of fluids to the child through her knee and monitored the EKG.  Additionally, Vulcan Company First Lieutenant James Tucker, an EMT and Navy Corpsman, continued to perform CPR.  The ambulance, driven by Ex-Chief William Cosenza, was given an escort by Lynbrook police to the hospital.

The two Good Samaritans that stopped to lend assistance left the scene without leaving their names.       

Meanwhile, the girl’s brother, still strapped in his car seat, was crying and suffering from a fractured arm and other injuries, while the father, behind the wheel, was bleeding profusely from the face caused by the deployment of the air bag.  Firefighters and paramedics removed the twin brother and he was taken to the hospital by the Malverne Ambulance Corp while the father was taken by a Nassau County Police ambulance.   

While the three year old girl was enroute to the hospital and while the paramedics continued administering oxygen and supplying fluid into the child’s veins, along with the continued CPR, a pulse was suddenly re-established.  The child was alive. 

All three were taken to the trauma unit at South Nassau Hospital in Oceanside.  The girl, now with a pulse, was placed on a ventilator in the hospital.   She was suffering from a neck fracture, a leg fracture, and neck and brain stem bleeding.  The brother and the children’s father were both in stable condition.

Nassau County Police accident investigators are investigating the cause of the accident especially since the child died. 

Fire Chief Raymond Burke said, “I would like to acknowledge the quick action by the Good Samaritans, but also the great efforts of the Emergency Medical Company paramedics who brought the child back to life.”  He added, “However, now we extend our prayers and condolences to the family for the loss of their little girl.”

After three days in the hospital it was announced that the girl passed away.