‘Jumped into action’: Off-duty, veteran firefighter saves drowning child in Kansas City North

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - A young child is recovering thanks to the quick actions of a Kansas City Firefighter.

The near drowning happened in The Coves neighborhood pool, which is right down the road from Zona Rosa and just north of Lake Waukomis. Just before 5:30 on Monday, Aug. 26, bystanders said the child was in the water and went under for an unknown amount of time.

The mother was pulling the child’s unresponsive body out of the pool, and that’s when a nearby off-duty firefighter Brandon Hullinger jumped into action.

He immediately sprang into action, assessed the situation and began R. KCFD was dispatched, upon arrival, KCFD found the child and the off-duty firefighter.

The patient was breathing and had a pulse.

“It’s the worst nightmare for a parent, you know, and that’s kind of what I was thinking the whole time with the mom being right there,” Hullinger said. “I felt like, you know, this is, this is my responsibility at this time, so I was going to do everything it took to to to try to get the outcome that we that we got -- we were fortunate.”

After Hullinger began doing chest compressions, he was relieved by the security guard. That allowed Hullinger to push on the child’s stomach -- resembling a Heimlich maneuver.

“I did a few rounds of that, and then the young child did start expelling some of the fluid,” Hullinger said. “Then rolled the child over to a recovery position, and then I picked the child up, carried the child to a more shaded area.”

The Kansas City Fire Department arrived on the scene and found the child breathing and with a pulse. They transported the child to Children’s Mercy, and Hullinger has been told they will make a full recovery.

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