The Galveston County Daily News

TEXAS CITY — Norris “Blake” Gains would have turned 2 on Tuesday. To mark his birthday, his mother didn’t buy a cake or presents. Instead, she asked city leaders to adopt a policy requiring all police officers be trained and given the proper equipment to perform CPR when paramedics are not on the scene of a life-threatening accident.

She also is asking that officers be required to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation when no paramedics are present.

Eboné Bradford insists that had a Texas City police officer performed CPR on her son when he was found facedown in a backyard pool on June 18, Blake would be blowing out his birthday candles.

“My son is gone,” Bradford said as she presented her argument to city commissioners Wednesday. “I sang happy birthday to nobody.

“The person who had it in his power to serve and protect refused.”

Officer’s Discretion

Police Chief Robert Burby said the officer followed proper procedure and defended the department’s policy, which leaves it up to the officer’s discretion on whether to perform CPR.

On June 18, Blake, his siblings and some neighborhood children were under the care of Bradford’s 19-year-old niece while she was running errands. Some of the children had been swimming in an aboveground pool at Bradford’s house in West Texas City.

Those who had been swimming either did not remove the pool’s ladder or left it connected to the pool, which was 4 feet deep. Blake’s body was found in the pool shortly after his mother returned home and noticed him missing.

Bradford and a neighbor attempted to perform CPR while someone called 911.

Officer L.J. Williamson arrived at the house before paramedics.

“I turned to him and said: ‘Thank God you are here. Can you help us?’” Bradford said. “He just looked down and told us to keep going on our own.”

Proper Technique

In his report, Williamson confirmed Bradford and the neighbor stopped CPR and that he had instructed them to continue. The officer reported that when he noticed the procedure was not being done properly and that Bradford was blowing air into the boy’s stomach, he told the mother and another woman how to properly administer CPR.

“Every time Gaines would get a chest compression you could hear the rattle of water,” Williamson wrote in his report. “I could not find a pulse, and he was not breathing.”

The officer did not perform CPR.

Williamson was not available for comment because he is stationed with the Army in Afghanistan, Burby said.

Plastic Mouthpieces

Under the Texas City Police Department’s policy, “plastic mouthpieces or other authorized barrier resuscitation devices shall be used whenever an officer performs CPR or month-to-mouth resuscitation,” Burby said. However, the department does not issue that equipment to its officers and allows an officer to decide whether to perform CPR.

Bradford said, and the officer’s report confirmed, that Williamson got into a shouting match with the boy’s grandmother, who complained the officer wasn’t doing enough to help. Paramedics arrived at the house about four minutes after the officer, according to records.

The toddler was taken to Mainland Medical Center but died about an hour later.

“If he had just tried,” Bradford said. “If this was his mom or dad or his child, he would have tried.”

‘Thorough Review’

Burby said: “A thorough review of this incident has been accomplished and all actions by officers on the scene were consistent with police and procedures. We also met with Ms. Bradford on several occasions and provided details regarding our response to a medical call and the actions of officer Larry Williamson during this unfortunate incident.”

The chief did not rule out the possibility that the policy could be changed. He said each year a committee reviews all of the department’s policies and considers revisions.

However, he would not commit to making the CPR policy part of the annual review.

Texas City is not alone in giving officers discretion on whether to perform CPR. Most of the police agencies in the county that responded to requests from The Daily News said they have policies similar to Texas City’s.

Petition Drive

Bradford said she doesn’t shirk her responsibility for the tragedy, but said her crusade is “what keeps me going.” In addition to her address to the city commission, she started a petition calling for a policy change.

“It angers me a lot that Blake could have been saved,” she said. “I hope to bring awareness so other parents don’t have to suffer what I have.”

After Bradford’s tearful plea to the city commission, Mayor Matt Doyle said he would meet with Burby to address the policy, as well as accusations by Bradford that the officer cursed at people as they tried to save the boy.

Police investigated the drowning but determined the boy’s death was an accident. Child Protective Services also conducted an investigation and did not find any evidence of abuse or neglect in the household, spokeswoman Gwen Carter said.

The agency had no records of any other investigations related to the family, she said.

Bradford was arrested about two weeks after the drowning and charged with misdemeanor trespassing after she got into an argument with a neighbor about issues related to the drowning. That case is pending with the Galveston County District Attorney’s Office.