For too many professionals, protocol trumps all other considerations. You do things according to the proper standards, the rules carved in stone, or you don’t do them at all.
However, some realize that doing things by the book isn’t an end in and of itself. Just consider what NYPD officers John Simicich and Tim Molinet did when an unexpected emergency call came in.
It was around 6 p.m. on Jan. 13, and Simicich and Molinet were on their way to a car accident. Suddenly, a call came in that an infant in Rochdale was unconscious.
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Without hesitation, the two officers swung their cruiser around and headed to the scene. What they saw there was something straight out of a parent’s worst nightmare.
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The two parents were attempting to revive their 11-month-old son Joseph, who was passed out. His lips had begun to turn blue.
“We saw the parents were scared,” Simicich told WCBS. “We saw the child was unconscious.
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“You jump into a mode where you have to react. We decided we had to take the baby.”
Rather the wait for an ambulance, the officers grabbed little Joseph, placed him in the back of their police car, and drove straight to Jamaica Hospital. One of them continued to perform CPR on the child throughout the whole drive.
Their efforts paid off. As they pulled into Jamaica Hospital’s ambulance bay, Joseph regained consciousness and began to cry.
But it might’ve gone differently if they’d followed proper procedure and waited for EMS.
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“It hits home for me,” Simicich explained to WABC. “I’m not just a police officer.
“I’m a father. So when we see that, it takes priority.”
He also said it felt good to be able to help out the family, and that the results were proof to him that they were trained well and doing the right thing.
While the family still isn’t sure why their son lost consciousness, hopefully it will not happen again.
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Alfredo Aona is more than thankful that the officers’ quick thinking saved his son, who turns one on Jan. 22.
“He says he’s extremely grateful to the police because his son was almost dead and he could not revive him,” neighbor Merceded Miranda recounted.
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