Maryland Officer Helps Save Life Of Infant On I-270

WASHINGTON (WJZ) -- A nine-month-old girl was in the right place at the right time, thanks to the quick action of a Montgomery County officer. The family stopped on the side of the road when the baby stopped breathing.

Officer James Herman was stopped along I-270 in Gaithersburg when a family pulled up behind him shouting for help.

"I could hear a guy yelling, `Help me' and I turn around and see panic on his face," Herman said.

Their nine-month-old baby had stopped breathing; they couldn't find a pulse.

"The first thing that came in my head: the arms were down. She was unresponsive and he's screaming, `She's not breathing!'" he said.

Herman is a dad himself. His wife is expecting their second child any day. He admits he panicked for a second but his CPR training kicked in.

"You want to grab the baby, keep her upright, support her head. She sort of fits in your arm. You press gently on the chest," Herman said.

Herman says he's seen a lot of awful things in 11 years on the force but if that little girl had died in his arms, it would have hit him hard---so when she started crying, it was like a miracle.

"It was relief, then it was joy when we saw her come back," he said.

The family says the baby recently had heart surgery and likely stopped breathing due to a seizure caused by a fever post-surgery.

The baby is recovering at a Washington-area hospital in good condition.