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Trio of Clinton Township firefighters delivers baby
VAN BIBBER LAKE — Emergency responders all have memories that stick with them forever.
From fatal crashes to drug overdoses to homes lost to fire, there are some runs that remain vivid in their minds.
Clinton Township Fire Department Assistant Chief Kenneth Stone worked a fatality on his very first night on the department 16 years ago.
Firefighter Lydia Cope Chubb recalls responding to the accident that killed her own cousin.
For fellow firefighter Pam Buis, it’s the drowning death of a two-year-old that sticks with her.
Fortunately for this trio, they recently made a much happier memory that’s likely to remain vivid for years.
Responding to the call of a woman in labor on Wednesday, Aug. 12 at Van Bibber Lake, they had the joy of delivering the new baby — a little girl — less than 10 minutes after they arrived.
Making the call even more remarkable, the newborn wasn’t breathing on her own initially, but the responders were able to lean on their medical training to get her breathing until the arrival of medics who then transported mother and child to an Indianapolis hospital.
“It’s nice to have a run like this that’s going to stick with us,” Stone said.
“It’s going to have to stick with us for a while because you know they won’t all be like this,” Buis added.
“It is good to see a life come in,” Chubb said. “I’ve seen so many go out.”
Arriving on the scene at 11:07 p.m., Stone, Chubb and Buis knew what they were getting into, but not that it would happen so fast.
Chubb, for example, said she has been among the first responders on scene for a woman in labor before, but that was more a matter of getting her on the road to the hospital where she could deliver.
“I’ve been in fire and EMS since 1991 and this is my first delivery,” she said.
Chubb even told the mom-to-be it might take several hours to have the baby.
“All I knew was I had to keep her calm,” she recalled earlier this week.
Instead, things happened quickly, with the baby arriving only shortly after the water broke.
“I think we work pretty well together considering it happened in seven minutes,” Buis said. “Nobody could’ve told us it was going to happen in seven minutes.”
However, the birth was apparently the easy part, considering the baby wasn’t yet breathing on her own. While Stone went back to the truck to get a suction tool, Chubb worked to clear her airway.
“She had a little whimper just before you came back in,” Chubb told Stone.
With the suction, her breathing got stronger.
It was only then that the ambulance — which was still quick in its arrival — made it to the home. From there, Spencer Brown and Kandi Collins of Putnam County EMS took over in getting mother and child to the hospital.
Deputy Robert Soilleux of the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department also assisted at the scene.
Stone, Chubb and Buis were still reveling in the joy of the delivery nearly a week afterward, and who could blame them?
“To have her there in my hands …” Chubb said, not exactly finishing the thought and not really needing to.
She did admit, though, this was a big goal in her time as a firefighter and EMT.
“I always said, once I deliver a baby, I’m done,” Chubb said.
“No, you’re not leaving that quickly,” Stone said with a laugh.
In the end, Buis views the episode as a new addition to the extended family made up of the residents of the small lake community.
“You have such close relationships with these people that it’s like family,” she said.
Buis even had a bunch of baby clothes on hand for a neighbor who was pregnant but moved away before having the child. She recently took the items to the house for the new baby on behalf of the fire department.
As of Tuesday, mom and baby had not arrived home but were reportedly doing well.
While the exact circumstances of this birth were a bit surprising, Buis said she had wondered about the possibility of some home births when the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting quarantines started back in spring.
”With COVID, it did cross my mind when things started getting bad,” Buis said. “We had several people not want to go to the hospital. We had several people pregnant out here, so was somebody going to want to have a baby at home?”
But as proud as she is to have been a part of this miracle, Buis isn’t looking for another adventure anytime soon.
“It is scary,” Buis said. “I hope there aren’t any more pregnant people on the lake.”