Officers Eric Sorensen, 35, of Queens and Officer Brian Dennis, 47, from Orange county. (Warzer jaff)
A pair of Manhattan cops got joyous thanks today from a mother whose baby’s life was saved by their quick action.
“We are really grateful,” the baby’s mom, Chinese McCaskey, said at St. Luke’s Hospital — who said the crisis went by so quickly, “it was like a movie.”
The officers — Eric Sorensen, 35, and Brian Dennis, 47, both assigned to the 30th Precinct — were called to the McClaskey home at West 148th St. and Amsterdam Avenue in Hamilton Heights on Monday, where Zoe McCaskey’s desperate mom had called 911 for help.
But by the time the officers arrived, McCaskey, her teen-age son and the baby had already jumped in a livery cab and were heading to a hospital.
Sorensen and Dennis gave chase, and found the cab several blocks away.
“The mother was in the back seat with the baby in her arms. She was panic-stricken,” recounted Dennis, a 16-year veteran cop.
They moved little Zoe into the back seat of their patrol car, and Sorenson took the wheel while Dennis tried to revive her.
“She had gone into cardiac arrest,” said Dennis. “The baby was lifeless.
“I started doing chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
“A minute later the baby’s heart had started beating, but she still wasn’t breathing.”
Patrol cars from several precincts stopped traffic at cross streets as Sorensen steered the patrol car down Amsterdam to St. Luke’s Hospital at West 113th Street.
“The dispatcher put the hospital on notice that they were going get a baby in cardiac arrest,” Dennis said.
“As we turned onto 113th, the baby vomited and started breathing again.
“We pulled into the ambulance bay, and two detectives went into the emergency room screaming, ‘Emergency! Emergency!’”
Inside the St. Luke’s trauma room, the baby, Zoe McCaskey, started crying. Doctors say she’s doing fine, and she’s expected home Friday.
They blamed the little girl’s breathing problem on a sudden bout of acid reflux, which can induce vomiting that can get in the way of breathing.
“I was so relieved that she was safe, and that the officers got her here breathing,” said Cory McCaskey, the baby’s father.
“This was one of the times that the police really stood by CPR — courtesy, professionalism and respect.”
Additional reporting by John Doyle