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A 911 dispatcher in near northwest suburban Elmwood Park kept his cool and helped save a life when he walked a father through CPR, which revived the man's 3-week-old daughter after she had stopped breathing.
Nick Risicato, 23, received a frantic 911 call from Brent Patterson and his wife around 3 p.m. Oct. 9. The parents reported that their infant daughter, Amelia, had stopped breathing while her diaper was being changed, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
"Just take it easy for a second, I'm gonna help you out, all right?" Risicato told the baby's mother after she said that she and her husband did not know how to perform CPR on their unresponsive child, according to NBC Chicago.
"My baby isn't breathing, I can't stay calm," the mother responded.
After alerting paramedics, Risicato proceeded to instruct the father how to perform CPR on his child.
Paramedics arrived at the home about three minutes after the call was placed and proceeded to work on the girl as they headed to Melrose Park's Gottlieb Memorial Hospital, the Sun-Times reports. As they pulled up to the hospital, the baby became conscious again.
Elmwood Park Fire Chief Michael Marino told the Sun-Times the baby's condition is improving as she is being treated in the hospital. She underwent an operation the day after the panicked 911 call was placed. A congenital brain problem was reportedly to blame for the child stopping breathing.
Risicato, who has worked for five years as a dispatcher, said that while situations like the Oct. 8 call are rare, his instincts and training kicked in and helped him stay on task during the call.
"At the time, it was so intense I didn't have time to think about it," Risicato told NBC Chicago. "I just acted."