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Health Matters: Providence St. Mary Medical Center | 5 lack of crying and bluish complexion. Acting swiftly, he placed the infant on his stomach and administered three or four back thrusts. "After the last thrust, the baby lifted his head," Mistretta recalls. He then carefully turned the child onto his back to assess the need for further intervention, such as CPR. The baby was moving, and Mistretta could see he was still breathing. Although a considerable amount of drool emerged from his mouth, nothing solid had been expelled, so they couldn't determine what had caused the choking. "It all happened so fast that we never even had a chance to exchange information," Mistretta recalls. Burfield adds, "The mother declined to have her child evaluated by emergency personnel at the time, so we encouraged her to take him to the hospital emergency room and explained why it was important to have a medical evaluation." HONORING EXCELLENCE Mistretta credits his experience as a parent for giving him the confidence to act swiftly in a critical moment, despite not regularly working with children in his role. In Providence St. Mary 's cath lab, he typically attends to heart attack victims. Although he undergoes basic life support training every two years, he had never applied this knowledge in a real emergency. After the incident, Burfield nominated Mistretta for a Values in Action (VIA) award for excellence, the highest honor Providence bestows on its caregivers. The annual program recognizes caregivers who exemplify the hospital's values of compassion, dignity, justice, excellence and integrity. Humbled by the honor, Mistretta emphasizes that he doesn't consider himself a hero, recalling, "When the baby was out of danger, it wasn't like a scene from a movie. People weren't clapping and cheering." Nonetheless, there's little doubt that one local mother sees him as a hero. Moreover, Providence St. Mary is proud to have Mistretta as part of its dedicated team. INFANT CHOKING GUIDE The American Red Cross recommends these steps: • Position the infant facedown along your forearm, using your thigh for support. • Keep the infant's head lower than your body. • Give five firm back blows between the shoulder blades using the heel of your hand. • Turn the infant face up with their head lower than their body. • Give five quick chest thrusts about 1½ inches deep. • Alternate between five back blows and five chest thrusts. • If the infant becomes unresponsive, lower them onto a firm, flat surface and begin CPR. Visit redcross.org/take-a-class/resources/learn-first-aid/adult-child- choking for information on how to aid other choking victims. St. Mary booth at High Desert Family Expo

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