NEWARK, NJ – With only a few months working as an officer in the Transportation Security Administration, a woman’s previous work as a paramedic began when she heard a mother screaming for help at the Newark Liberty International Airport.

The mother noticed that her son was not breathing, TSA officials said Thursday. She tried to wake her 2 month old son without success.

TSA agent Cecilia Morales hears the screams for help and yells instructions to the mother.

“But she was so nervous and I knew if I didn’t go there it wouldn’t be a good result,” said Morales. “I jumped over the rollers of the checkpoint treadmill and she gave me the baby. I performed the infantile Heimlich maneuver on him.

Video from the airport shows Morales rushing to help.

“I saw the video afterwards,” Morales said. “It was the first time I saw myself in action, saving a life. It was breathtaking to watch. I felt that my training and my experience were taking over.

Together, they waited for a pediatric paramedic to arrive and gave the infant oxygen.

Morales had done the Heimlich on adults and children during her decade as a paramedic, but the Newark incident was her first time she had applied the life saving technique on a baby.

“Two months on the job and she’s literally a lifeline,” said Thomas Carter, TSA director of federal security for New Jersey. “The quick reaction and actions of Agent Morales made it possible for this family to have a very happy holiday season. His actions were inspiring.