Coral Springs-Parkland Fire lieutenant and his wife received applause from fire chiefs for helping to save child’s life
Coral Springs, Florida – Coral Springs – Parkland Fire Lt. Kandice Oltz and her paramedic wife, Jennifer, helped to save a child’s life while they were off-duty in Dania Beach.
According to a city memo, on April 25 while the couple was about to paddleboard at Whiskey Creek Hideout park, and spotted a man running from the water with his motionless son who had turned blue.
Kandice Oltz took the three-year-old boy who was still wearing floaties and laid him on the sand, while Jennifer Oltz (an Oakland Park firefighter paramedic) and an emergency room nurse, who happened to be close by, rushed over, the memo said. After Kandice Oltz pinched the boy’s nose and blew a breath into his mouth, ER nurse, whose name was not provided, blew more breaths into the child’s lungs and Kandice Oltz gave him chest compressions, the memo said. As the boy started to breathe and get his color back, Kandice Oltz turned him on his side, and he threw up the water.
Jennifer Oltz then picked up the boy and ran to the parking lot, where a Hollywood Fire Rescue crew was waiting to rush him to the hospital.
According to the memo, Kandice Oltz exchanged numbers with the boy’s family and paramedics and stayed in touch to keep track of the child’s recovery.
On Wednesday evening the couple received applause from fire chiefs as commissioners recognized them for their efforts, at Coral Springs City Hall.