Crime & Safety

Report: Toddler Who Nearly Drowned Helped by Former 'Voice of Orioles'

911 operator instructed toddler's grandmother through CPR.

The 911 operator credited with helping save a drowning toddler in Laurel earlier this month was “The Voice of the Baltimore Orioles," according to WJZ Baltimore.

Dave McGowan, who spent 14 years as the stadium announcer for the Orioles, has started a new career as a 911 operator in Prince George's County. He picked up the phone when the frantic woman called after she found her grandchild unresponsive in a bathtub, the report said.

The  along the 1000 block of 10th street on May 10. According to police, the grandmother, the child's legal guardian, said she was giving the girl a bath when two friends came to the door. When the woman returned 10 minutes later, she found the child underwater in the tub and unresponsive.

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When the grandmother made a desperate call to 911, it was McGowan she reached.

“My granddaughter drowned. She’s not responding. Please help me!” the grandmother said over the line, according to call records obtained by WJZ.

Find out what's happening in Laurelwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“Give her two breaths, then 30 more pumps– one and a half inches. Keep going, ma’am. This is very important. Don’t stop,” McGowan responded.

McGowan’s strong baritone voice is credited with calming the grandmother enough to perform CPR on the toddler, who survived and was in stable condition the following day.


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