A newborn baby girl is alive thanks to the quick-thinking and heroic efforts of an Edison police officer.
Officer Brian Freund heard the 911 dispatch call for a 6-day-old infant choking and happened to be a few blocks away. He says he quickly sprang into action.
"The first thing I thought of was my own children," Freund says.
The patrolman says the child's father unsuccessfully tried to resuscitate her. Officer Freund then administered gentle chest compressions until the baby girl began coughing and crying. She was then taken to a hospital for further treatment.
"You're hoping for a gasp of air and a cry," says Freund. "We were always trained the best thing you can hear from a baby girl is a cry and once the cry came, I felt we were out of hot water."
Edison Police Capt. Joseph Shannon says the entire police department is proud of Officer Freund. This was the first time he had used CPR on an infant.
The baby is expected to be OK.
Officer Freund and a fellow Edison police officer also once helped a woman deliver a baby in the middle of a blizzard, several years ago.