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Responder receives top award for saving baby while on hunting trip

Roanoke County firefighter-paramedic Andrew Goodpasture was in the “middle of nowhere” when he came across a woman trying to give her grandchild CPR

By EMS1 Staff

ROANOKE COUNTY, Va. — A firefighter-paramedic was named this year’s Red Cross Emergency Responder Hero for saving a baby while out of town on a hunting trip.

WSLS reported that eight-year veteran Roanoke County firefighter-paramedic Andrew Goodpasture was in the “middle of nowhere” on a hunting trip with his friends when he came across a grandmother attempting to save her grandchild.

“I look over, and I saw something out of the corner of my eye, just didn’t look right. I was, like, ‘Was that lady getting ready to do CPR on a baby?’ My buddy said, ‘No, I think she was just changing his diaper,’” Goodpasture said.

Goodpasture said they kept driving, but he couldn’t stop thinking about the woman and baby.

“I’m, like, just turn around to be on the safe side,” Goodpasture said. “The lady, the grandmother of the child, had the baby out and the baby was on the trunk of the vehicle. I immediately just jumped out, told the lady, ‘Hey, I’m a prepared medic. Let me help,’” Goodpasture said.

The baby’s parents called 911 after Goodpasture could not find a pulse.

“I was, like, ‘Give me the phone, so I can tell them what’s going on.’ Got on the phone. ‘Hello, I’m a paramedic with Roanoke County. This is ALS critical in progress. We have a 6-month-old, no pulse, not breathing. Parents say it might be an accidental overdose on medication,’” Goodpasture said.

Goodpasture performed CPR on the baby until an ambulance arrived.

“After a couple of minutes, we do another pulse check and I saw the child’s hand move and I was, like, ‘Wait a minute. Stop.’ (I) feel for a pulse. I feel a pulse,” he said.

Goodpasture said the baby eventually made a full recovery after paramedics administered naloxone, and he added that the grandmother probably saved the child’s life by pulling over.

“I’m just glad that I was there, but I give kudos to the grandmother. Without her doing that, I would’ve never seen it and would’ve driven on by. The way I look at it, she’s the real difference-maker,” he said.

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