Hartford firefighters are being credited with saving a 2-year-old who was choking on Thursday.
The fire department posted a letter from Aetna Ambulance on its Facebook page, thanking responding firefighters for their quick thinking.
According to the letter, EMTs and firefighters were called to the city's South End around noon Thursday. They found the toddler unresponsive with a "complete airway obstruction." Firefighters performed chest compressions and the Heimlich maneuver.
Medical personnel worked with firefighters to remove the food from the child's airway and give the toddler oxygen.
Aetna Ambulance director of operations Mark Hannegan said the emergency responders' teamwork kept the child alive.
"There is no doubt that without quick, calm and professional actions by all on scene, the child would have died," Hannegan said in a letter to the fire chief thanking the firefighters of Engine 10. "The attending physician called and said that prehospital care 'legitimately saved this kid's life.' He said that the child is doing well." [[301241471,C]]
