By Steve Neavling
It was a cold, busy morning at the San Ysidro Port of Entry on Dec. 8, 2016, when the emergency call came over the radio.
A distressed traveler in a vehicle in the secondary area was going into labor.
CBP Officer J. Lott, who had experience as an emergency medical technician, grabbed his medical bag and rushed to the woman. There was no time to get to the hospital.
“I just trusted my training,” Lott said. “I knew if I remained calm, the mother, the father, and everyone around me would stay calm. Although deep down inside I did not want to fail them.”
The baby was breeched, meaning her feet or buttocks was positioned to be delivered first. It made for a long, dangerous and difficult birth.
When the baby girl emerged, she was turning blue and not breathing. Wiping the blood from the baby’s face, Lott began suctioning the nose and mouth before doing chest compressions.
“She was really blue, she wasn’t breathing, and unresponsive,” Lott recalled. “I quickly administered chest compressions, and after about five or six, she started crying. I was already on my knees, and I just buckled. I remember saying to myself, just keep on breathing baby, just keep on breathing, please.”
The lifesaving measures worked – the baby began to cry.
Now 5 years old, Alexa Garcia and her mother recently met the man who saved her life. CBP officials and the U.S. Consulate in Tijuana coordinated the first meeting between the officer and little girl since she was born. Lott’s wife accompanied him.
“This is truly an outstanding demonstration of the humanitarian side of our job,” Anne Maricich, CBP acting director of field operations in San Diego, said in a statement. “An officer’s ability to maintain a level of composure, and act quickly to perform emergency medical action saved a life. Officer J. Lott demonstrates not only to the community, but to fellow employees, that CBP is a world class law enforcement agency.”
During their reunion, Alexa handed Lott a brown package tied with a bow. It was a framed photo of Alexa in Lott’s arms on the day she was born.
Lott choked up before handing Alexa a large gift bag. Alexa removed the tissue paper and found a stuffed teddy bear dressed in a CBP uniform.
Alexa beamed and hugged Lott.
“I believe God put an angel in our hands that day, that angel saved my wife and baby’s life,” Lott said.
