I was consoling him (he was crying pretty hard) when all of a sudden his eyes glazed over and his body went completely limp and lifeless in my arms.  I tried shaking him to snap him out of it, but he was completely passed out.  His teacher called 911 and he woke up about a minute later, disoriented and crying.

When the EMT/firefighters arrived, they checked him thoroughly.  They put him at ease by talking to him about things he could relate to so he wouldn’t be so frightened.  In the end, they think he just hyperventilated from crying so hard.  His doctor wants to run more tests, but hopefully,  that’s all it was.

After about 45 minutes, when all seemed back to normal, the firefighters invited my son and his friend to go outside and see their fire truck.  You can only imagine the excitement on the boys’ faces.

They gave them stickers, blew up rubber gloves, showed them the super-humongous ax and let them sit inside so they could show them all the bells and whistles.

Then came the best part.

“We’re taking them with us.”  

I thought the firemen were joking. 

Then the doors to the truck closed, and off they all went for a ride through the parking lot, flashing lights and all.  Their first ride ever in a real fire truck.  I think that made my son’s life complete.  I don’t remember ever getting to ride in a fire truck.  But these two boys would surely be the envy of all their classmates the next day.

So to the Oklahoma City Fire Department:  You guys have the biggest hearts. Thank you so much for taking the time to turn a scary situation into something my son will always remember.   Thank you for putting this smile on my boy’s face.

-Erica Smith
esmith@opubco.com

Would you know what to do if your child started choking?

The answer for me a year ago was ‘no’ and it scared me to think that if my son started to choke, I wouldn’t know how to save him.  I kept picturing just the two of us, at home eating dinner when a piece of pizza or steak got lodged in his throat.  I would probably panic and call 911, but by the time they would come, it could be too late.

Wanting to be prepared for the worst prompted me to take CPR and first aid training from the Red Cross last February.  It’s a full-day class, where you are trained by a professional on how to do CPR and first aid on infants, children and adults.

At the end of the class, you’ll know what to do for not only for choking, but also burns, gashes, broken bones and other major injuries.

There’s a test at the end of the course and passing is required for certifcation. The great thing about taking a course from the Red Cross is that the CPR certification is valid for one year, and for first aid, it is valid for three years. There are no prerequisities necessary.

To register with the Red Cross, go to http://okc.redcross.org/ and click on ‘Be Educated’ and choose ‘Red Cross Courses’ from the drop-down menu. From there you browse all their course offerings. If you’d like to learn how to do CPR and first aid on an infant or child, take the course that specifically says “Class adult, child, infant CPR, first aid.”  Classes range from $48 – $60.

Isn’t having the ability to save your child’s life or someone else’s worth a Saturday?  It’s a small price to pay for peace of mind.  I know I’ll be going to back to get re-certified next month.

~Erica Smith

esmith@opubco.com