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DOC Officers Save Toddler’s Life 

Heroes work at the New York City Department of Correction. Our Officers are called The Boldest because they serve, protect and save lives in city jails 24/7/365.

Today, a heartfelt thank you for your service goes to Officers Barbosa Jr., Stanislaus and McQueen for recently saving the life of a baby who was choking on a potato chip during a visit at the Robert N. Davoren Center (RNDC) on Rikers Island.     

After seeing the toddler bent over on the floor struggling to cry on Sept. 8, Stanislaus and McQueen sprang into action to help the one-year-old. Stanislaus performed the Heimlich maneuver while McQueen called for medical assistance. Then Barbosa Jr. came over to help and the three Officers then worked together with the child’s mother to clear his airway until DOC physicians and FDNY EMS arrived for further assistance.     

“This Department trains us in CPR and to be ready at all times to help when emergencies happen, whether it’s at work or on the streets, so we are trained for this,” said Stanislaus, a 14-year veteran. “It was scary, the baby’s lips turned blue, but we used our training to help him.”   

“The baby was in distress and we immediately did what we’re trained to do and we performed CPR to help him breathe again. I performed finger sweeps in his mouth and that didn’t work. Then I pushed my finger down his throat and I felt the chip move and then we instructed the mom to give him water and we continued to comfort both the baby and his mom until EMS arrived,” explained Barbosa Jr., an 18-year DOC veteran. “We want everyone, our partners, ourselves, the visitors and the persons in custody to remain safe every day. When we come to work, that’s what we do every day and we’re happy the baby is OK.”

"When we're working on the visits floor, we're security-minded and we're always making sure that everyone is safe. When we see something wrong, whether it's contraband or a medical emergency like this one, we immediately do our job and help," added McQueen, a 17-year DOC veteran.   

RNDC Warden Chester commended the three heroes for their excellent work during the emergency and noted that he is very proud to have such dedicated correctional professionals on his staff.    

"We are extremely grateful that our Officers were able to save this child's life. Their training and experience kicked right in and they worked as a team to help him and his mother," Chester added. "We call our Officers heroes because that's what they are: heroes. They are dealing with the public and persons in custody every day and they do what is required to keep us all safe."