By Stacy Lee
San Marino Fire Department assisted in the delivery of a baby in a vehicle at a city home early Wednesday morning.
Fire Capt. Dominic Petta said the department was dispatched at 6:10 a.m. and arrived on scene at 6:14 a.m. He said the couple was getting ready to go to the hospital and she went into labor getting in the vehicle.
“As we were pulling up, the dad was in the passenger seat catching the baby,” Petta said. “Our Paramedic Brian Campbell was the first one to start assessment on the mom and baby.”
“We assisted the father and the mother with the rest of the delivery and transported them to the hospital,” Campbell said
He said the call came in as an OBGYN emergency.
“You never really know what it’s going to be,” Campbell said. “Most of time, it’s not an actual child birth. It’s a complication. There are guys who have been here 10 year and never delivered a baby within the field. You never really expect it, but you know that it could happen. That’s why we’re always preparing for it and ready for it when it does.”
He said he has delivered or assisted in delivery of babies before, but it was his first with San Marino Fire Department.
Petta said Campbell did a fantastic job.
“Typically our time frame on scene is usually about 10-15 minutes – obviously depending on the severity of the call,” he said. “To go from at the incident to the hospital in 14 minutes, I’m really proud of crew and operationally how everything worked. Being able to get there in that short a time period makes a substantial difference. Also in that time frame to have four medics in the back assessing two patients makes a world of difference.”
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