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Polk County Battalion Chief Honored For Saving Child's Life

Polk County Fire Rescue

Kevin Giliam was waiting in a line of cars when he saw Kim Blomeley in distress because her son Tristan was choking. Gillam saved the boy's life.

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Published: December 16, 2008

A Polk County Fire Rescue battalion chief who helped a choking toddler this year was honored recently at a luncheon hosted by an awareness group founded by instructors of cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Chief Kevin Giliam was off duty and waiting in a line of cars at All Saints Academy in Winter Haven when he noticed a frantic mother in the vehicle in front of him, fire rescue spokeswoman Heather Smith said in a statement.

The mother, Kim Blomeley, had pulled her son, Tristan, from his car seat. The toddler was choking on a small corner of a plastic bag that had lodged in his throat, Smith said. The child was conscious but unable to breathe.

Giliam dislodged the plastic and the toddler was able to breathe on his own.

Gilliam was honored at a Dec. 5 luncheon held by the Citizen CPR Foundation. Blomeley presented Giliam with a necklace and charm of St. Florian, the patron saint of firefighters.

Citizen CPR was founded in 1980 and started as a conference where CPR instructors shared experiences and insights, according to the foundation's Web site.

The organization "recognizes that people using CPR and automated external defibrillator skills, and who provide relief of choking, are attempting to save lives in and around our country," Citizen CPR Executive Director Susan Barham said in a statement.

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