Brevard County Deputy Kayla Durr Saves Infant’s Life
By Wayne Ivey, Brevard County Sheriff // February 24, 2015
named January deputy of the month
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – Deputy Kayla Durr was honored as the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office North Precinct Deputy of the Month for January 2015.
The Brevard County Sheriff’s Office Communications Center received a call from the distressed father of a six day old infant, seeking aid for his newborn infant who was struggling to breath.
The infant’s father reported that he thought his daughter’s throat was blocked by a foreign object.
The Communications Center transferred the call to Brevard County Fire Rescue and dispatched the call to Patrol Deputies on duty in the Port St. John Area.
Deputy Durr was the first to arrive at the residence, met with the child’s parents and was told by the child’s mother that the child was not breathing.
Observing that the child was motionless and not breathing, Deputy Durr took the child from her mother and attempted to clear the infant’s airway.
Deputy Durr then administered a two finger Heimlich maneuver below the infant’s rib cage twice.
The infant began to breath and started crying and Deputy Durr placed the infant on the floor, turned the infant on her side and monitored the infant’s breathing.
The infant stopped breathing again, Deputy Durr repeated the Heimlich thrust to clear the infant’s airway, and the child began to breath normally.
When Brevard County Fire Rescue Paramedics arrived on scene, Deputy Durr carried the infant to the Paramedics.
The paramedics were able to suction the infant’s airway, removing a large quantity of mucous. The infant was then immediately transported to Parrish Medical Center for emergency treatment.
Deputy Durr’s supervisor, Sgt. Frank Hickman, responded to Parrish Medical Center and spoke to the attending Emergency Room Physician.
Sgt. Hickman learned that the infant was stable and that it appeared that the infant had an enormous amount of mucous built up, and that the young infant was too young and weak to clear her own airway by coughing.
Deputy Durr’s actions restored the infant’s airway and breathing – and ultimately saved the infant’s life.
I could not be more proud of Kayla and ask that you please join me in congratulating her on a job well done and for being selected as the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office North Precinct Deputy of the Month for January 2015.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey has been a law enforcement officer for over three decades. Sheriff Ivey is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and has a Bachelor’s Degree from Daytona State College in Management and Supervision. Sheriff Ivey’s background in law enforcement is inclusive of Management, Criminal Investigations, Narcotics, Patrol Services, Public Integrity Investigations, and Corrections.
Prior to being elected in 2012, Sheriff Ivey served the citizens of the State of Florida as a Resident Agent in Charge for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. As a member of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement Sheriff Ivey developed and created the country’s first ever statewide Task Force on Identity Theft.
That same year the Task Force was named one of the top five most innovative programs in the country by the International Association of Chiefs of Police and investigated approximately 44 million dollars in fraud cases. Additionally, as a member of FDLE, Sheriff Ivey created the Child Abduction Response Team (C.A.R.T) that re-defined the way Child Abduction cases are conducted throughout the country today.
Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey has been a law enforcement officer for over three decades. Sheriff Ivey is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and has a Bachelor’s Degree from Daytona State College in Management and Supervision. Sheriff Ivey’s background in law enforcement is inclusive of Management, Criminal Investigations, Narcotics, Patrol Services, Public Integrity Investigations, and Corrections.
The program was later selected as the most innovative program in the country by the International Association of Chiefs of Police and is now used as a nationwide model in the response and investigation of child abductions.
Sheriff Ivey has testified before the United States Congress on law enforcement related matters and has extensive experience in the area of Public Integrity Investigations. Sheriff Ivey was honored as the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s Special Agent of the Year (1996) and was also recognized by the Commissioner of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for his Outstanding Contributions to Criminal Justice. In August of 2011 Sheriff Ivey was honored by the National Organization of Victims Advocacy for his work at the national level as an advocate of victim’s rights and protection.
Sheriff Ivey speaks regularly on topics such as Identity Theft, Crime in America, Human Trafficking, Domestic Violence, and Self Defense through Mental Preparedness. Sheriff Ivey firmly believes that Crime Prevention and Education are vital to reduce our crime rate and protect our community.
