TSO Saves the Life of a Baby at the Checkpoint
News & Happenings
April 7, 2008
On Sunday morning, March 30, Transportation Security Officer Chris Harrington was working at the security checkpoint at Rogue Valley International Airport in Medford, Ore ., when he saw something happening to an 18-month-old girl that looked all too familiar.
It appeared to Harrington that the distressed child was having some sort of a seizure -- something Harrington recognized because one of his own family suffers from seizures.
He stopped the parents of the child as they were going through the checkpoint and told them what he was observing. The young couple, heading home to Tennessee after visiting family in the Medford area, suspected their baby was ill but did not realize the seriousness of her condition.
An ambulance was called and the baby was hospitalized overnight. Doctors attending the baby told the family that had they gotten on that plane, the child would likely not have survived the trip home. Thanks to Harrington’s quick actions and insistence that the baby receive immediate medical attention, the child was spared any serious injury.
Acting Assistant Federal Security Director Danielle Bergquist said, "We have been teaching our employees to be aware of their surroundings and Harrington's quick action is a great example of that training."
