Body-camera footage shows NYPD Officers Freddy Cerpa and Megan Ficken responding to a 2-year-old who had stopped breathing inside a Bronx apartment on Jan. 16. The toddler began breathing again during the officers’ response.
Racing to a Sixth-Floor Apartment in Soundview
The emergency began with a 911 call reporting a child in distress, and Cerpa and his partner responded that day, according to Fox News. By the time officers reached the boy, he was unconscious and not breathing, as reported by News 12 Bronx, which noted the officers had to sprint up to a sixth-floor apartment to reach him. Ficken was already administering back slaps to the child when Cerpa arrived on scene, according to ABC7 New York.
Body camera footage captured the moment the toddler began breathing again, per the same News 12 Bronx account, as the officers alternated between back pats and checks of his airway. The child had been choking on mucus, and once he was breathing again, he was taken to Jacobi Hospital as a precaution, according to police cited by Fox News. The station reported he was doing well afterward. CBS News also aired the bodycam clip, noting the toddler recovered quickly and was taken to a nearby hospital for evaluation.
A Second Rescue in Weeks for One of the Officers
Both officers credited their academy instructors with preparing them to stay calm during emergencies, according to News 12 Bronx. Cerpa had also helped revive a choking child weeks earlier: in December, while off duty in Elmont, he administered back slaps to a neighbor’s lifeless 1-year-old daughter, according to ABC7’s reporting.
Choking risk and documented training
The American Red Cross says children younger than 5 are at particularly high risk for choking. The NYPD says recruit training includes first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation, though its public training page does not say whether this specific airway emergency was covered in the officers’ instruction.
The Bronx rescue is not the only recent case of NYPD officers reviving a choking child in the borough. Earlier this month, officers from the 44th Precinct were flagged down to assist a choking child and immediately began life-saving measures, according to Hoodline's prior coverage, which reported the child was safely taken to a hospital for evaluation once the airway was cleared. That same precinct saved a choking 2-year-old girl back in 2020 after she swallowed a hair clip, Hoodline noted.
