A Baby’s Crisis Brings Two Families Together
by Bret Senft

Shamima and Abdul Alim and Samid, with Peter Blumen, wife Helena, and daughter Linnea.

Peter Blumen’s low-key voice reflects a circumspect work life as a Wall Street trader, one not necessarily used to coming upon emergency situations. Yet on August 25, he encountered a neighbor in the elevator at 30 River Road – Shamima Alim, a Bangladeshi woman, hurrying to find her husband, Abdul Alim, a diplomat with the Bangladesh Mission. He had difficulty understanding her, but learned that her baby was having trouble breathing and was turning blue in the family’s 14th-floor apartment.

"I was leaving the building at about 1:15, coming from the 17th floor. The doors opened on 14 and Mrs. Alim got on. She seemed distressed and was breathing heavily... She was going to the lobby to tell her husband that their baby had stopped breathing."

The Alims were leaving on a trip to Washington.

Blumen continued: "I figured she would have more difficulty than I would in explaining this to the doorman. And, for all I knew, her husband might not know English, either. He was running in and I was running out, and I shouted that I was going to get the EMTs. But when I talked with him the next day – he didn’t know who I was or what I had been doing. I just ran out and did what I thought was best at that moment.

"I ran past 40 River Road to the Fire Station. But the guys there, when I told them what happened, they said, ‘Which building is ‘30?’ I said, ‘C’mon, I’ll show you…’"

"By this time, the doorwoman had called the fire department and we heard sirens, and there was a crowd gathering. Alim had gone upstairs and brought the baby back downstairs. The fireman I brought back started CPR, then another guy jumped off the truck that had just come in, and then another guy, and as more emergency personnel arrived, I moved back. Eventually EMTs arrived, and they were clearly the most qualified. It really makes me respect what EMTs have to go through: they deal with these emergencies every day, and they know how to respond. You really have to appreciate the work they do."

"I couldn’t quite tell when the baby started breathing again – whether the EMTs had induced it, or the firemen – you couldn’t tell by looking. At that point, I took off – I had to get to a meeting. I could still hear more emergency vehicles coming as I left."

Recalls Abdul Alim: "Samid, my son, is four months old now. He had some diarrhea the day before, but it wasn’t that serious. So we planned to go to Washington. But when my wife took the baby to change its clothes, he started crying. Then he became stiff and did not breathe, and his color changed, turning greenish – and he remained stiff at least five, six minutes. She tried to phone me, but I didn’t hear any phone ring or see any calls. She gave the baby to her mother. And just as she rushed down, Peter saw her, crying, and Peter asked her what is wrong, and she told him, ‘My baby is not breathing.’ I also encountered Peter, and he told me, ‘I am going to get the EMTs.’ I didn’t understand him, but understood that he was doing something for the baby. I rushed to my home, and saw that the baby was breathing, but not very normally – the frequency was not normal. So I took the baby, went down, and immediately saw the fire brigade. They took over, and gave oxygen to the baby, and checked the pulse, and said, ‘It’s OK – he’s breathing.’ Then, within a few minutes, the ambulance and police came.

"Then we went to New York University Hospital, where he was born. We stayed there four or five hours. The doctor told us – and they are not certain – but it might have been two reasons: dehydration, because of the diarrhea or, two, the baby was very angry, and started crying. But they ran an EKG and found it was normal, and did some blood work. The doctor told us, ‘Just keep him under observation, and if it happens again he has to go to the neurologist.’ But it hasn’t happened since then."

John Doherty, battalion chief of Special Operations Command down the street from 30 River Road, recalled what happened. "I was here. Two of our guys ran over there. I went to get my radio. And when I got there, one fireman was holding the baby, and the other was gingerly administering oxygen."

He added, "The mother was a little hysterical, and the father was very concerned. And that was my job: to calm them down a bit. It was over in a couple of minutes."

Doherty explained the Roosevelt Island station’s unique role in emergency response for the City. "There’s no fire truck here, no hose and ladder. We have special units with tools and equipment to respond to larger fires around the City – although we have fire extinguishers, turnout coats, and oxygen, tools that can force doors and things of that nature. In the case of a fire on Roosevelt Island, the station across the bridge is called and will respond to it."

Of the special response station, Peter Blumen says, "The guys there do have a strong connection with people here. After 9/11, 300 people walked around the Island with candles. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. Quite frankly, I’ve never seen anything like it."

As for the Alims? "The next morning, they invited me to their apartment, and they had some very nice teas and desserts from Bangladesh, and we matched our two stories up because, at the time, there had been such a panic. But as fathers of very young children – I have a two-year-old, also – we both knew at that moment what was the most important thing that mattered: the safety of the baby. I felt it, too. Having a daughter myself, I’m always watching over her. And here, it was pretty easy to size up what was going on."

Abdul Alim also recalls the visit: "Peter came to see how the baby was doing. He gave me some papers on how to respond in case the baby stops breathing again. I was really moved by the way Peter extended his help. It was unbelievable the way he came forward. Sometimes you live in a building and no one knows their next-door neighbor. But it was unbelievable how he helped us."