NY emergency responders mistook a doll for a lifeless baby -- for HOURS.

[pnwmom]

The doll is shown here (no paywall).

https://abc13.com/realistic-doll-thought-to-be-dead-baby-spurs-crime-scene/5352570/




https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/18/nyregion/dead-baby-doll-park-queens.html?action=click&module=Latest&pgtype=Homepage

The authorities began releasing details — 3-month-old baby found, no heartbeat — and set up a crime scene as news crews arrived.

As the morning wore on, New Yorkers became collectively horrified that an innocent baby could be discarded like so much litter. But more than two hours after the police arrived, there was another news development: The dead baby was actually a doll.

It was not until 10:45 a.m. — a full three hours after the emergency medical technicians first declared it a dead infant — that a team from the city’s Medical Examiner’s office made the doll determination, a delay that prompted a second round of outrage and story updates.

A photo made the rounds of the synthetic baby with a blue hue perhaps meant to simulate bruising, a lack of oxygen or decomposition. The doll wore a diaper and a T-shirt with the words “Crawling Dead,” suggesting that the whole thing might have been a ghoulish prank.

While the city seemed to collectively exhale in relief, another question arose: How could dozens of responders mistake a doll, one that looked like a prop out of the “Walking Dead,” for a real baby.

[dewsgirl]

1. I wonder if it was one of those dolls that look

like a real baby, at least I hope that's the case. They are extremely real looking. I think they are called Reborn babies.

[pnwmom]

3. It was a gruesome looking purple doll. You can see it here,

without a pay wall.

https://abc13.com/realistic-doll-thought-to-be-dead-baby-spurs-crime-scene/5352570/

[dewsgirl]

7. It does look like a baby reborn, of course minus the color.

Why didn't they do the medical exam? Crazy story. Thank you for the link.

[LisaL]

9. It looked obviously dead and I presume they were trying to preserve what they believed to

be a crime scene.

[TheBlackAdder]

11. This might be the pic.

Here's how it looked when found.

[dewsgirl]

12. Someone would have to be pretty sick to do this

with a real baby.....nevermind. They were pretty sick anyway and I know people do f$cked up stuff everyday.

[TheBlackAdder]

13. I thought I saw those things for sale last Halloween.

[MuseRider]

2. These are our first responders

and maybe second responders and nobody knew it was a doll? Way to examine your patient you dolts. This is the worst thing I have heard in a while. What the hell is going on? If they even tried CPR didn't they notice that they could not blow air into the baby? This HAS to be a joke. They could not be first responders and be this dumb.

[NutmegYankee]

6. No one tried CPR - the doll color indicated many hours of death, since it was a zombie.

Other than confirming no heartbeat, probably by stethoscope on the back, the police restrictions on the scene delayed rolling over the doll and realizing the mistake. No one could disturb the doll because pictures had to be taken of the "body" and scene before forensics could then start to analyze the "body". It was only once the "body" could be disturbed that the error was realized.

[MuseRider]

10. Thank you so much for this.

I cannot afford to get through the paywalls of all these papers, I have the Washington Post right now but not the NYT. It still seems hard to believe but this makes more sense. With the dumbing down of everything in this country and the use of non qualified people in so many areas where they used to demand expertise I could not stand the thought that first responders would not be able to do better than this.

[womanofthehills]

4. When I was a kid, I witnessed a reverse story

A bunch of us kids saw what we thought was a doll in the water and we were trying to reach it when emergency services came and took the baby away.

[Demovictory9]

5. No one touched the baby or attempted to render any sort of aid, and EMS even "declared" it dead at 7

[LisaL]

8. It was bluish purple in color, so it would be too late for aid if it were actually a dead baby.