Downey police officer hailed as hero after saving drowning baby

Downey Police Cpl. Ed Hano with Councilmember Blanca Pacheco at Tuesday's City Council meeting.

DOWNEY – Downey police officer Ed Hano was honored by the Red Cross as a “Hometown Hero” last week for rescuing a baby that had fallen into a swimming pool. 

Hano was home and off-duty on Dec. 18, 2015 when his daughter ran inside to tell him that a woman was out in the street with her unresponsive baby that had fallen into a swimming pool. 
He immediately started CPR; finally the baby gurgled, and water poured out. 

Shortly after paramedics arrived, the baby was taken to the hospital and has since recovered. 

“We celebrate these heroes so that from them and their stories we will be inspired to become and stay prepared, so that when the time comes, when our fellow man needs help, when it falls to you or me to be everything, to be the whole world to another human being, we will rise to the occasion, said Paul Conrad, chairman of the board of directors for the American Red Cross Greater Long Beach. 

Other honorees included: 

Cuauhtemoc Blancas -- Little did Blancas know that just five days after attending a CPR class he’d have to use his new skills to save his best friend’s life. 

On a windy day last November, Blancas and his friend, Chon, were working together unloading sand bags at a work site in Malibu when suddenly the wind picked up and Chon started to choke on sand that had blown up into the air.

At that moment Blancas’ training kicked in and he started performing CPR compressions until paramedics arrived. Chon has since made a full recovery. 

Rory Willeford and Alex Novak - On Mother’s Day, Rory Willeford and his family were having dinner at a restaurant when his mother-in-law started choking. Right away Rory put her in the Heimlich position but she began to go limp. 

Alex, the manager of the restaurant and trained in CPR, asked one of the servers to call 911 as he rushed to Rory’s table to help Alex. Thanks to his CPR training, Alex was able to help Rory save his mother-in-law.

Susie Powell -- One morning last March, Susie Powell was on her way to work when she looked to her right at an intersection and saw a driver slumped backwards in his car.

Susie pulled over, called 911 and the dispatcher told her to begin chest compressions on the man. Within moments, the paramedics arrived and took over his care. 

Bernd Stevens -- After World War II began, Bernd joined the U.S. Army. On April 16, 1945 he captured by the Gestapo and taken to prison but was able to escape and returned to the U.S.

The war was ending but Bernd wanted to help free more prisoners. He charted a plane, risked his life by parachuting near his prison, and helped stop the killing of many innocent people. 

Bridget Hains, Lisa Montoya and Alonso Serna -- One morning in January 2016, a patron at the La Mirada Civic Center notified employees Bridget Hains and Lisa Montoya that a person had fallen and was unresponsive. Bridget rushed to get the AED machine while LIsa performed CPR. 

Alonso Serna, who had arrived at the civic center to process some forms, noticed Bridget and Lisa helping a woman on the floor. He asked if he could assist and began CPR compressions and helped the woman until paramedics arrived.  

Erin Grissom, Max James-Jolly, Julia Jaynes and Mark Ryan -- On a busy Memorial Day weekend at Alamitos Bay, sailing instructor Mark Ryan heard screaming. He ran to the source and found a young girl floating face down in the lagoon. 

Mark dove in and initiated CPR. His co-worker, Erin Grissom, began to assist. Max, who had been in a training session, rushed to the scene and send another co-worker, Julia Jaynes, to get a lifeguard and call 911. 

By the time EMTs and lifeguards arrived, the girl was already breathing on her own. 

Michael Cravin -- Michael was visiting his parents and was on his way out when he noticed his mother lying face-down on the floor. While his father dialed 911, Michael realized his mother wasn’t breathing and performed CPR until paramedics arrived. 

Andre and Joelle Mary -- Andre and Joelle Mary were biking in El Dorado Park when they saw a girl standin gout on a freeway overpass. Andre thought she might jump, so he dropped his bike and began to move towards the girl. 

Joelle asked a passerby to call 911 and then got a hold of the girl’s shirt, pulling her back to safety. 

Firefighters arrived and saved the girl from jumping. Andre and Joelle were at the right place at the right time, and didn’t think twice about risking their own lives to save the girl.