Oglethorpe County EMS often has to act fast. Recently, two paramedics each unexpectedly assisted in the delivery of a baby during their shift.
Kristin Gilliam helped deliver a baby on Dec. 11 and Oglethorpe County EMS supervisor paramedic Dennis Weaver helped deliver a baby on Jan. 8.
Gilliam has been working in the EMS field for about 15 years, and Weaver has had a 31-year career.
“One thing I’ve learned in this field is, what you think or expect when you get there is not what you’re gonna find sometimes,” Weaver said. “And this was one of those cases.”
The EMS A shift crew received a call on Dec. 11 from a woman who said she believed she was in labor and that her water had broken.
The “what-ifs” of baby delivery originally went through Gilliam’s mind but were put to rest after the successful, December delivery.
“Just being able to be like, ‘Holy cow, guys, I finally delivered a baby and he's healthy and beautiful and has a head full of hair,’ and just a healthy baby was a huge thing for me, especially after having delivered one that was not healthy and not breathing,” she said.
EMT and deputy coroner Robby McCurley and paramedic/shift supervisor Dylan Smith were alongside Gilliam during the delivery.
“I looked at Dylan, who’s my shift supervisor and Robby, who is my regular partner,” Gilliam said. “I was like, hey guys, we’re gonna be here for a minute. We’re about to deliver this baby.”
The Oglethorpe County EMS B shift received a call on Jan. 8 from a woman who was undergoing contractions, which were shorter than expected. The delivery was high-risk, as the baby’s feet exited first creating a breech birth.
Weaver delivered the baby in the field for the fifth time in his career.
“You got to move quickly and know exactly what you have to do to try to get the baby out as fast as you can to kind of, even, help mom with assisting the baby out,” he said.
Paramedic Kelly Huff and AEMT Taylor Smith, Dylan Smith’s wife, responded in an ambulance to transport the newborn and parents to the hospital.
Huff drove the ambulance, and Smith and Weaver rode in the back with the parents.
“It went as smooth as it could go,” Weaver said. “They both jumped in once they got there and kind of took a role in caring for Mom.”
The EMS crews said delivering babies in the field isn’t common, but Gilliam and Weaver were thrilled by their recent experience.
“It’s incredible, because if you think about it, we see more life going out than we do coming into the world, so to speak,” Gilliam said. “And it kind of gives you a renewed sense, I guess, that there are still positives to this job. It's not always all death and all bad things.”