DRAPER, Utah — A scary situation for a mother and child had a happy outcome thanks to an Incident Management team member and Utah Highway Patrol trooper being in the right place at the right time.
At around 7:30 p.m. Wednesday night, a distressed mom pulled into a Maverick gas station Draper and frantically searched for help as her five-year-old daughter was choking in the back seat of the car, UHP said in a social media post about the incident.
IMT member Rob Bratton and UHP Trooper Zesinger just so happened to be in the area and Bratton did not hesitate to jump in and perform the reverse Heimlich on the girl, UHP reported.
"Instantly I kind of knew there was something wrong so I made my way over there where she showed me her child had been choking and was not doing so well," Bratton said.
Body camera video shows the frantic situation and also how Bratton and Trooper Zesinger kept calm and quickly took action to help the child just in time.
The food was quickly dislodged and the girl began to breathe normally again. Trooper Zesinger called for medical aid and the child was checked out as a precaution.
"We're all highly trained first responders, we're trained in a variety of different emergencies and I'm just glad there was someone there last night with the proper skills to make this a very happy outcome instead of something that could have been worse," Bratton said.
"We’re so grateful Rob and Trooper Zesiger were in the right place at the right time with the right skills to help save this child’s life," said the Utah Department of Transportation in an Instagram post. "Please remember when you see our IMT trucks, that they are there to help you. Our IMT members work tirelessly to help make Utah roads a safer place for everyone!"
