Philly officer’s quick thinking helps save woman who stopped breathing
By Christie Ileto
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PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — A Philadelphia police officer didn’t miss a beat when a man flagged him down to help his wife who wasn’t breathing.
On a busy West Philadelphia intersection, a quick-thinking Officer Lamar Johnson immediately went to work trying to save her life as they waited for medics to arrive.
Officer Johnson started CPR on a lifeless Joyce Jones as her panicked husband stood close by.
Never before seen officer body cam video showed the dramatic second-by-second CPR.
“Give her two breaths,” Officer Johnson could be heard saying.
A passerby, who said she was a nurse, jumped in to do mouth-to-mouth in the middle of the street.
“Once I realized she wasn’t (breathing), I pulled her out of the car and put her on a flat surface,” recalled Officer Johnson.
And then suddenly there was a breath.
“I probably did more than 30, but the last round, I saw she was foaming at the mouth, which told me she was breathing,” said Officer Johnson.
“His demeanor and his actions set the tone for how everything went,” said Joyce Jones. “I’m just grateful.”
Joyce Jones says she was having an asthma attack and stopped breathing. In his distress, her husband flagged down the first officer he saw after missing his turn to the hospital.
“My guardian angels are Officer White, Officer Thompson and Officer Johnson and that nurse, whoever she is,” said Jones.
Jones also says she would not be here without her husband.
“I don’t think it’s fully hit me. I just did what I would want someone else to do if it was my mom, my sister, my wife-somebody I care about,” said Officer Johnson.
Officer Johnson says every year they get CPR training. This was the first time he had to use it on the job.
Jones says she still doesn’t know the good Samaritan who helped perform CPR but says she’s so grateful for her and Officer Johnson and his partners.
If you know of a first responder who went above and beyond the call of duty, we want to share their story.
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