JMH Security Officer Honored After Helping Rescue Infant from Locked Car

A late summer heatwave was the backdrop of a frightening incident in a parking lot at Jacksonville Memorial Hospital on Aug. 31.

It was around noon when a mom buckled her baby into a car seat after an appointment and tossed her purse with the keys inside into the front seat. When she shut the passenger side door to go around to the driver’s side, the car made a locking sound. All four doors had locked shut.

It was a parent’s worst nightmare. On a nearly 100-degree day, her child was locked inside a car. Frantic, she ran indoors to the Therapy Clinic. Purisima Wells, an inventory control clerk with the Wound Center, happened to be walking by.

“It was lunchtime, and there was nobody there beside me,” Wells said. “She was crying and freaking out. I was, too! I called Security and told them we needed help right away.”

David Luttrell, a supervisor with JMH Security, took the call and immediately dispatched officer Brenten Buchanan to the scene. Within minutes, Buchanan was able to pop the lock open and open the door using a special tool. His main concern was whether the child was breathing. He looked for chest rise but didn’t see any sign initially. He stayed calm.

“The mother was standing behind me, and I asked her if the baby was a sound sleeper,” Buchanan recalled. “She said yes. I rubbed the baby’s chest gently and was relieved when I saw the chest rise.”

Buchanan and Wells accompanied the mother indoors with the baby, who was breathing but also quite red and lethargic. Jen Cors, RN, with Oncology, and Wendy Easten, RN, with the Therapy Clinic, both urged the mother to take baby to the Emergency Department for evaluation.

When the baby started crying on the walk to the ED, everyone felt a little better.

“The main thing was that the baby was OK,” Buchanan said. “The mom was so thankful that I was able to get there quickly. I try to be helpful anyway, but to be able to help in that situation – to get a baby out of that overheated car – that was worth more than anything.”

JMH President and CEO Trevor Huffman recognized Buchanan with a Lifesaver Award for his efforts. Buchanan has worked at JMH for ten years, the first two with Environmental Services and the last eight with Security. He was grateful for training on how to handle stressful situations without freezing up.

“It was nerve-wracking,” he said. “But I didn’t let it stop me from my main objective coming out of the office, which was to get that baby out of the car, breathing and OK.”

After evaluation in the ED, mother and baby headed home. Buchanan was relieved when he came to work the next day to learn that the child had gone home.

“I’m proud of all of our colleagues who played a role that afternoon,” Huffman said. “But Brenten showed remarkable calm in a scary situation, and we are thankful for his quick response that most likely saved a child’s life.”