LOCAL HERO: Police officer saves one-year-old’s life on the Costa Blanca

THANKS to the prompt intervention of a local police officer in Finestrat, the life of a toddler was saved.

The police were alerted to the emergency whilst they were carrying out a routine checkpoint in the historic centre of the town.

The panicking mother pleaded for help, and so officers immediately attended and discovered the one-year-old baby unconscious, unresponsive and showing signs of asphyxiation.

The officers called the 112 emergency coordination centre who put them in direct contact with an emergency doctor who then guided them through the emergency revival process, ultimately resulting in the Heimlich manoeuvre being performed by officer Miguel Sellés.

The police officer continued to care for the baby, who was now reviving, until a paramedic unit arrived to take him, now conscious, to Villajoyosa Hospital, where he was kept in as a precaution, but reported to be in good condition.

The mayor of Finestrat, Juan Francisco Pérez, congratulated officer Sellés, saying, “this type of action falls within the professionalism and vocation of public service of our Local Police. This does not detract from his intervention because it is essential to remain calm, be quick and follow with rigor the indications of doctors, as our agent did until the SAMU arrived, thus avoiding a greater evil. Therefore, my congratulations go to Miguel and by extension to the entire body of the Local Police of Finestrat”.