Warren police rookie officer Jacob Brooklier was at the TownePlace Suites hotel Saturday night interviewing someone about an incident when a 911 dispatch call came in on his radio.
A 12-year-old child was reported non-responsive in the pool at the same hotel where Brooklier was on site for an unrelated incident.
“I immediately stopped my interview, ran down the hallway into the pool area and saw a young man not breathing,” said Brooklier. “He wasn’t alert, he wasn’t breathing, his chest was not moving, so I immediately started CPR and was able to get him to start breathing.
“I didn’t even stop to think; I just did what had to be done.”
Amidst panicked bystanders, Brooklier placed the child in a rescue position and initiated chest compressions. For two minutes, he continued to administer CPR until the child began breathing.
In a matter of moments Warren Fire Department personnel were on the scene.
“They did their assessment and provided additional aid,” said Brooklier. “Then we had additional police officers that started blocking off intersections and our officers on scene did a great job communicating with the fire department about what route we were going to take to get that child to the hospital as quickly as possible.”
The child was taken to Henry Ford Macomb-Oakland hospital on 12 Mile Road where he was listed in critical condition from the near drowning. He has since been released from the hospital and is expected to make a full recovery.
Brooklier said witnesses told him the child was playing in the pool and suddenly became submerged in the water.
“So many times when you are dispatched somewhere, you are thinking about how you are going to handle the situation when you’re on the way there, but this wasn’t like that,” said Brooklier. “There was no time to analyze anything, I just had to react.”
Brooklier joined the Warren Police force a year ago and has been on his own as a one-officer patrol unit for just about six months. It is the first time in his career that he has had to administer CPR.
“I was in the right place at the right time,” said Brooklier. “You don’t really get a chance to assess the situation and think about what you are going to do when something comes up that quick; you just react.
“Warren officers get CPR training several times a year so I’m blessed to have had that training and to be able to help.”
Lt. John Gajewski said the incident was a prime example of all branches of public safety working together to get someone in trouble the help they needed.
““A 12-year-old child today is alive, not just because of officer Brooklier but because of people behind the scenes,” said Gajewski. “From excellent dispatching to quick response by the fire department to other men and women in blue blocking intersections, all three came together in Warren on Saturday night and a child is alive because of it.
“That’s public safety, that’s what we do, and we couldn’t be happier.”