Lake County Sheriff’s Office Correction Officer Wytavious Stanford used his academy training during an incident at his neighbor’s house in which he was able to save the life of a baby in distress. Lake County Sheriff’s Correction Officer Wytavious Stanford (Courtesy of Lake County Sheriff’s Office) According to a department Facebook post, on the morning of March 9, Stanford received a distress call from his neighbor, whose 8-month old son was unable to breathe and was turning blue from a lack of oxygen. Stanford immediately ran to the neighbor’s home and took the baby into his arms. According to the post, using his CPR training he turned the baby upside down to attempt to clear his airway. When this was not successful, Stanford explained that he turned the baby in a recovery position and used his right hand to sweep inside his mouth. When he did this, he found an object deep inside his throat blocking the baby’s airway. Stanford was able to dislodge the object and the baby began breathing. When asked about his actions, Stanford described the incident as surreal for he had never been confronted with such a situation. He said that if it were not for the CPR training he received during his academy at the Sheriff’s Office he was not sure how he would have responded. “But my CPR training just kicked in without having to think about it and I did everything I was trained to do. Truly it helped me save his life,” Stanford said. The post, which was signed at the bottom by Sheriff Frank Leonbruno, commended Stanford for his quick reaction and thinking that saved the baby’s life. “We commend him for his outstanding service and professionalism in such a time of crisis,” the post stated. Stanford will be awarded the Life Saving medal at a ceremony later in April at the Lake County Sheriff’s Office. ...read more read less