Baby recovers after mother, dispatcher saved his life

By JON ERICSON, Courier Staff Writer
CEDAR FALLS --- Sarah Langel didn't know infant CPR. She's thankful Brian Boesen did.

A week ago today, Langel's 1-month-old son, Dylan, had just awakened from a nap at 1 p.m.

The baby was hungry as Langel picked him up and held him.

"He fussed a little bit. He was fine, but then he went limp and his skin turned this awful color," Langel recalled.

Dylan's heart had stopped beating. Langel's heart raced.

She reached for the phone and dialed 911.

On the other line Boesen, a 10-year veteran at the Black Hawk County Dispatch Center, answered the call. Another dispatcher sent out paramedics and police while Boesen worked with Langel.

Boesen walked Langel through the process step by step --- clear the airway, puff of breath and chest compression.

"I've never been so scared," Langel said a week later, the memories still fuzzy from the chaotic moments. "I remember it, but yet I don't."

Langel was still administering CPR when Cedar Falls Police Officer Kurt Schreiber arrived on the scene. He took over for her while another officer got information from her and tried to keep her calm.

Schreiber continued until Sartori paramedics arrived on scene.

An ambulance took Dylan to Sartori Hospital, where doctors would stabilize his condition before a helicopter ride to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City a few hours later.

Doctors there diagnosed Dylan with a a coarctation of the aorta, basically a narrowing of a crucial artery. The condition is normally discovered after birth when a heart valve closes, but Dylan's stayed open, disguising the problem.

On Friday, Dr. Harold Burkhart performed surgery in which a lung was moved out of the way, the faulty part of the artery removed, then the artery was sewn back together.

To the parents, the surgery sounded frightening.

"The surgeon said it's routine for them. The other staff said, 'Don't worry, he's amazing,'" said Dylan's father, Jim Langel.

Dylan was scheduled to leave the intensive care unit on Tuesday, but his return home has not yet been determined. Doctors expect a full recovery.

"It's a miracle. Every day he gets better and better and stronger than before," Sarah Langel said.

Langel vows she will learn infant CPR now.

"I didn't really want to get the crash course, but I'm glad I did," she said.

Employees at Black Hawk County Consolidated Dispatch go through classes to learn CPR and have cue cards at their work stations for talking people through the process. The experience isn't new for Boesen, who has earned honors in the past for his dispatch CPR efforts.

Judy Flores, administrative supervisor at the dispatch center, was proud of the efforts of the staff.

"The dispatcher did a great job, and the mother was fantastic. She was able to keep her composure enough to follow the directions," Flores said.

When the incident was over, Boesen told Flores that incidents like that make the job worth it.

"It was textbook. It could not have gone better," Flores said. "It's a tape that I will use for our training."

At Dylan's bedside in Iowa City, Langel recalled how calming Boesen was on the phone.

"I just can't say enough about the EMTs and police and the dispatcher," Langel said.

Contact Jon Ericson at (319) 291-1402 or jonathan.ericson@wcfcourier.com.