INSTINCT overrode emotion for Mount Gambier woman Carly Burke when she rushed to the aid of a non-responsive baby while on a routine run near the Crater Lakes precinct.
Having returned to the Blue Lake city from deployment in the Royal Australian Navy, May 30 took a dramatic turn for the qualified able seaman medic when, at around 7am, a vehicle with distressed parents stopped abruptly in front of her.
What happened next has landed Ms Burke in national headlines, with many declaring her actions heroic.
Speaking to The Border Watch this week during the early stages of her latest deployment at sea, Ms Burke said her initial reaction to assess the situation uncovered a “rapidly deteriorating” infant who was thought to be choking on an object.
Spraining her ankle while hastily crossing the road, Ms Burke said she introduced herself calmly to the baby’s parents who overlooked the situation.
“From across the road I could see the actions they were trying to do were not successful and the increased panic and rapidly changing actions raised concern,” she said.
“I felt calm and confident as, while completing a paramedics conversion degree, I had just finished a paediatrics unit and knew what was happening and therefore knew how to intervene.
“I had a suspicion the infant went into cardiac arrest due to hypoxia due her tongue blocking her airway, which causes a saliva reflex, giving the parents the thought the baby was choking on an object.”
The baby was blue around the lips and not breathing when parents handed the baby to Ms Burke to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation until paramedics arrive.
Ms Burke said she had learnt to control her emotions through her training which gave her focus during the ordeal.
“We are qualified paramedics and nurses in the civilian world, but as navy medics we get trained as everything; we become nurses, paramedics, psychologists, physiotherapists and even taught some dentistry,” she said.
“We go through 18 months of hectic training, stress induction, sleep deprivation, mental and physical resilience and emergency medicine.
“We get conditioned and disciplined and if we see it… we respond as it is just what is expected of us.”
Ms Burke said she saw the parents’ fears and uncertainty vanish immediately when the baby started to breathe again – a moment she will never forget.
“In a millisecond their tears, initially full of hurt and pain, instantly changed to tears of joy,” she said.
“You could just see the love and appreciation they had when holding their baby girl.
“This sight was thanks enough and is simply priceless.”
Reflecting on the incident, Ms Burke said the experience felt “surreal.”
“I reflected on whether I did everything right, whether I could have done it better and how I could change anything if I was to undergo a similar situation,” Ms Burke said.
“It is an automatic debrief I did in my own head and in the end those questions can make you become a better medic.”
Ms Burke said the family had been in contact since to let her know the baby was released from hospital with doctors expecting a full recovery with no long-term effects.
The navy medic said this was not her first response to a traumatic or serious incident.
“Last year when I was in the Solomon Islands, our team responded to a machete attack in a small village,” she said.
“We had five casualties, which did involve a six year old girl.”
Ms Burke is posted to patrol boat HMAS Ararat and her commanding officer lieutenant commander Khan Beaumont said her efforts were an “exceptional act performed by an exceptional sailor.”
She plans to finish her paramedics degree and then apply for a medics position on operations in Afghanistan.
