A Riverhead Police sergeant and paramedic were honored today for saving the life of a young child at a local daycare facility on March 1.

Sgt. Jill Kubetz and Riverhead Volunteer Ambulance Corps medic Christine Klassert were presented with proclamations from the Riverhead Town Board at the Riverhead City Hall board meeting today.
The city government honored Sgt. Jill Kubetz and Riverhead Paramedic Christine Klassert for their actions on March 1st in saving the life of a child who was suffocating. Pictured from left: Councilor Catherine Kent, Kubetz, Supervisor Yvette Aguiar, Klassert and Councilor Ken Rothwell. Photo: Peter Blasl

On Monday morning, March 1st, Riverhead Police received an 911 call in which a child was suffocated at the Pine Tree Day Nursery in Riverhead. Kubetz, on the way, rushed to the daycare on Roanoke Avenue and arrived within a minute of the call. They found the child had a completely blocked airway, Riverhead Police said in a press release earlier that afternoon.

Kubetz used recoil to remove the object from the child’s lower airways. She noticed that there was a large LEGO block stuck in it, blocking the child’s airway. Kubetz’s efforts have shifted the property enough that limited airflow has been restored, according to police reports.

When the Riverhead Volunteer Ambulance Corps arrived, Kubetz held the child while Klassert removed a two-inch LEGO from the child’s neck.

RVAC transported the child, who police said was barely a year old, to Stony Brook University Hospital for examination.

The child’s father later visited the Riverhead Police Department with his child to thank first responders for their actions in saving his child’s life.

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