Deputy and Dad Save 15-Month Old Child in Oregon

The child was discovered with her face wedged between the bed and the wall which led to suffocation.

LifeFlight air ambulance transported the young girl to Doernbecher Children's Hospital

(HILLSBORO, Ore.) - Deputies and medical personnel responded to a report of a 15-month-old girl that had been discovered not breathing by her parents.

Sgt. David Thompson with the Washington County Sheriff's Office, says the child had been sleeping on a "day bed" and it appeared that she suffocated when her head became wedged between the mattress and the wall. The child was revived and she was released from the hospital two days later.

It began last Thursday, when Washington County Sheriff's Corporal Steve Schuster responded to 44950 N.W. Elk Mountain Road near the city of Banks.

Thompson says he received a report of a 15-month-old child that was not breathing.

"When Corporal Schuster arrived, he was lead into the house where he found the child's father, Eystein Sandvik, 36 years old from Norway, performing Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) on his daughter. Corporal Schuster said the child was blue and non-responsive. He took over CPR from Mr. Sandvik."

Thompson says that like all certified law enforcement personnel, Corporal Schuster is trained annually in CPR.

"Corporal Schuster readjusted the child's airway and gave her rescue breaths. He said the child started to breathe on her own soon after he started giving her breaths."

LifeFlight air ambulance transported the young girl to Doernbecher Children's Hospital where doctors said she was breathing but remained non-responsive.

Two days later, the child was released to her parents. The doctors were amazed and credited the fast response of Corporal Schuster for her recovery.

An investigation was conducted and this incident appears to be an accident. No criminal charges have been filed and none are expected.

The child and her parents are in town from Norway visiting family. Mr. Sandvik and two of his children arrived the night before the incident. The child was having trouble sleeping in her crib so Mrs. Sandvik laid down with her on a "day bed". After the child fell asleep, Mrs. Sandvik returned to her bed leaving the child to sleep on her own. The child was discovered with her face wedged between the bed and the wall which led to suffocation.