Last week, the Garden Grove City Council recognized Master Officer Charles Starnes for his heroic actions in delivering a baby.
Officer Starnes has been a member of the Garden Grove Police Department for 10 years. He started his career with the Riverside Sheriff’s Department, after graduating from the Police Academy in 2003.
Over the course of 10 years, Officer Starnes has served as a Police Explorer Advisor and assigned coveted positions with the Career Criminal Apprehension Team, and the SWAT Team.
Last week, the Garden Grove City Council recognized Master Officer Charles Starnes for his heroic actions in delivering a baby.
Officer Starnes has been a member of the Garden Grove Police Department for 10 years. He started his career with the Riverside Sheriff’s Department, after graduating from the Police Academy in 2003.
Over the course of 10 years, Officer Starnes has served as a Police Explorer Advisor and assigned coveted positions with the Career Criminal Apprehension Team, and the SWAT Team.
He has received two Class A Commendation Awards, been recognized as Officer of the Quarter, and earned the Commitment to Service Award.
But nothing like what happened on Dec. 30 of last year had ever occurred in his career.
On that day, Officer Starnes played a critical role in the unexpected arrival of a baby boy.
At the intersection of Beach and Garden Grove boulevards, he received a call for service from dispatch. Arriving at the scene, Officer Starnes saw a mother in labor, about to give birth, with the baby crowning. He immediately placed his hands around the baby’s head, and helped the mother deliver the baby.
But, the baby was blue, and not breathing, so Officer Starnes turned the baby over and cleared his airway by striking his back. The baby was then able to breathe, and started to cry.
Measuring 20 inches long and weighing 6.9 pounds, the baby, named Jackson, was taken to Garden Grove Medical Center with his mother.
When asked about the experience, Officer Starnes says that when he saw baby Jackson with his parents at the hospital, it brought back memories of his own children. He wondered if his smile then, was as big as the smiles of Jackson’s parents seeing their newborn son.
Officer Starnes says this experience was by far his most rewarding, because, “to actually touch a life as it comes into the world” was an experience that rarely, if ever, occurs in an officer’s career.
