Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Harry Franklin, firefighter/paramedic, holds 11-month-old Victoria Cooper who stopped by the fire station on Shannon Road with her mother. Franklin, Capt. Kelly Seitz (left) and Kevin Dennis, firefighter/engineer are the ones who responded to the call on Aug. 1, when Victoria was discovered in her family's backyard pool.
Paramedic's action likely saved life
By Nathan R. Huff
The case of 11-month-old Victoria Cooper is enough to turn even the most cynical of individuals into a believer.
The small girl is crawling about her Los Gatos home happily these days, with no indication that just two months ago she was at death's door after spending an unknown amount of time under water in the family pool.
"It was an absolute miracle," her father, Ted Cooper, said of his daughter's recovery. "The doctors themselves have to admit there's no way to explain it."
The Coopers have many individuals to thank for their daughter's second chance at life, but much of the credit goes to the Santa Clara County Fire Department and, specifically, paramedic Harry Franklin.
Franklin and his fellow emergency response crew members, Captain Kelly Seitz and firefighter/engineer Kevin Dennis, responded to a call at 9 a.m. on Aug. 1, of a 9-month-old baby pulseless and not breathing. The crew responded, arriving at the chaotic scene to find neighbor Frank Griffin, M.D., giving the infant CPR.
A heart monitor was attached to the baby, showing Victoria was flatlining. "She was clinically dead for 10 to 15 minutes," Franklin said. "That's about as bad as it gets."
Franklin took dramatic steps, inserting a tube into the child's lungs so she could breathe and starting an IV line directly into her jugular vein. Franklin's quick work succeeded in reestablishing a heartbeat after 40 minutes of silence.
Victoria was rushed to the hospital, where doctors told the Coopers that despite signs of life, Victoria probably would not survive. "When we got to the hospital we were basically told she was going to die and did we want to donate her organs," Ted Cooper said.
Victoria remained on life support for two weeks, hooked up to as many as 11 IV lines. X-rays showed severe lung damage and Victoria was unresponsive. But three days after that X-ray, the baby's lungs had miraculously repaired themselves. After three weeks, Victoria was released from the hospital and allowed to return home with her parents and five siblings.
Franklin said that in his 10 years as a paramedic he has had a couple of similar experiences, but none with such a positive result. "We really had no idea she would recover. It's really unbelievable to see how bright-eyed and alert she is," Franklin said, adding that this was the first rescue of this kind he had done since he became a father, making it that much more heart-wrenching.
Franklin, who recently celebrated the birth of his second daughter, said he received training for such emergencies, first in paramedic school, and then in a hospital setting. However, he added that all the training in the world cannot prepare someone for the challenges of a case such as Victoria's.
The Coopers give special thanks to Calvary Baptist Church and Los Gatos Christian Church. Ted Cooper said Calvary parishioners provided meals for the family while Victoria was in the hospital and both congregations prayed for the little girl.
Since the accident, the Coopers have installed a motion-sensitive alarm on the pool to prevent such potential tragedies from ever happening again.
Los Gatos, California Since 1881
