Firefighters deliver baby on I-95 in Amesbury
A baby was successfully delivered Tuesday by three Amesbury Fire Rescue firefighters on Interstate 95.Around 4:40 p.m., firefighters Ryan Casey, John Kane, and Michael Burke, who are also paramedics, responded to a home on Cedar Street and found a woman in labor attempting a home birth, the department said in a statement. Officials said a midwife, who was at the home, decided to call for an ambulance when complications occurred.
The rescuers loaded the woman into an ambulance to take her to Anna Jaques Hospital in Newburyport, about 8 to 10 minutes away.
The birth was imminent, according to officials, and the two firefighter-paramedics in the back told the driver to pull over while the ambulance crossed over the John Greenleaf Whittier Bridge on I-95.
The department said the baby girl was born in the ambulance on the side of the highway five minutes later. The firefighter-paramedics ensured the baby was breathing and healthy before heading to the hospital, officials said.
“We train for these kinds of situations all the time, but firefighters could go their whole careers without actually delivering a baby,” Casey said in the statement. “It is good to have a positive outcome.”
Both mother and child were said to be doing well on Wednesday.
“The mom did the hard work. We just fell back on our training and helped her,” Burke said.
Fire Chief Kenneth Berkenbush gave the three firefighters a pink stork pin to place on their uniforms, recognizing their work in delivering the baby.
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