14 DAY TRIAL // A baby girl has been born in the freezing cold in Toronto, declared dead and then revived at a local hospital.
According to My Desert, the baby's 20-year-old mother was heading for the hospital with her mother, after feeling ill. The unnamed woman didn’t make it to the hospital though, and had no other option but to deliver on the sidewalk; unfortunately, the paramedics arrived at the scene initially declared her child dead.
“She wasn't feeling well and her and her mother were walking to the hospital,” Toronto police Constable Wendy Drummond is quoted by K Pop Starz as saying.
The incident occurred on Sunday, February 17, at approximately 6 a.m. The Globe and Mail lists the temperature at the time at -14 C (6.8 F) with a -23 C (-9.4 F) windchill.
The women called 911 and were met by paramedics and police officers. While “extensive resuscitation efforts” were performed by staff at the Humber River Hospital, the infant was pronounced dead.
In keeping with police protocol, two police officers were assigned to guard the baby's body, waiting for the coroner’s office to pick it up.
About 90 minutes after being declared dead, the girl started moving again. An officer spotted the movement and took her pulse, calling in hospital staff to confirm that she was alive.
She has since been moved to the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, where she is now recovering. Jamie Hutchison, research director for critical care medicine at the facility, explained that she was only suffering from hypothermia.
“Hypothermia can mimic death. [...] Temperature is an important factor when you're determining death. [...] The baby appears to not have any vital signs. But then when the baby is rewarmed … the vital signs come back,” he describes.
“Today two officers experienced something most likely never to happen again in their careers. [...] Truly astonished/pleased baby is doing well,” Drummond posted online after the incident.