Spain blackout
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Arturo Bermúdez will not remember the big blackout for a cancelled flight or a moment of fear in a stuck lift. In fact, the power outage caught him while he was asleep and he almost didn't notice the first hours. What he will never forget, however, is the night of this unprecedented incident and the even more unprecedented event that he was part of: the premature birth of a baby, who he had to perform CPR on while receiving instructions from the emergency services over the phone. Sometimes, miracles happen in the dark.
Arturo, 40, is a receptionist from Malaga, who has only been working at the four-star Puente Real hotel, located opposite Los Alamos beach in Torremolinos, for a month and a half.
"I've made my debut in style," he said jokingly. His shifts are always at night, which is why he was sleeping when the blackout started at 12.30pm, in the middle of the day. He didn't get too upset or worried when he woke up and realised that the world had switched off. After a light dinner, he went to work.
The hotel's power came back in the late afternoon, so his shift started normally. The usual tranquility of the evening was disrupted when an British guest went to the reception and told Arturo that his girlfriend was feeling unwell. "I suggested he call a taxi to take her to the doctor and he said he would wait a bit and let me know if she got worse."
Things took a drastic turn shortly afterwards. Arturo saw the 20-something-year-old girl coming down the corridor with wet clothes. "I guessed that she was pregnant and that her water had broken. She confirmed it, so I immediately called 061 for an ambulance," he said. The girl told him she needed some fresh air and went outside the hotel, where there is a porch with a small lawn and a couple of benches.
Arturo realised that the young woman was going to give birth any moment, so he asked the 061 operator to call him on his mobile phone, so that he could leave the reception and accompany her. "As soon as she went out, the girl told her boyfriend to pull down her trousers, because the baby was already coming out. Then, I saw that the child was falling, literally, and I managed to catch him mid-air so that he wouldn't fall on the ground," said Arturo.
The newborn was very small and purple, without a pulse. "He looked dead. His head was falling backwards," said Arturo. The receptionist sat on the hotel steps and placed the baby on his lap, preparing to perform CPR, which he had learned through courses he had taken during his professional career.
The problem lay in doing it in those circumstances and to a baby that had been born prematurely, at 30 weeks of gestation. At that moment, 061 called him and he put his mobile phone on loudspeaker. "I followed the instructions they gave me, performing CPR and removing whatever was obstructing his airway."
Arturo estimated that it took three and a half minutes before the newborn reacted and coughed slightly, a sign of vitality that encouraged him to continue. "He was losing the purple colour, but he was not in good condition. The mother was in shock. "I had the mother's gaze fixed on me, as if she wanted to tell me 'save my baby'."
At that moment, the first National Police patrol and the ambulance arrived. "They thought I was the father and congratulated me on how well I had done and for having saved my son. I explained that the father was the boy next to me and the officers even gave me a hug. They were super nice," said Arturo.
The paramedics offered little hope, saying that the baby's condition was critical. However, they took him to Hospital Materno Infantil, from where sources later informed that his condition had been stabilised. The mother is also doing well. Arturo, who is looking forward to visiting them at the hospital, has already become the most popular member of the hotel staff.
"My colleagues say I'm a hero, but it's not true. I just reacted instinctively, as anyone would have done, and tried to help," he said.
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