Amador County – Ione Fire Department personnel helped to deliver a baby in a parked car Monday in the Ione Shopping Center, with the mother and baby reportedly doing just fine.
Amador County Dispatch sent responders to a call around noon Monday, saying a woman was giving birth in a Chevy Tahoe in the Ione Pharmacy parking lot, and it “sounds like the birth is imminent.”
City Manager Kim Kerr said Ione Fire Chief Ken Mackey assisted in the delivery, and it was not his first as a professional fire fighter, or even in that lot. Mackey said Wednesday he responded to the Ione Shopping Center, where “a successful delivery was made at 12:07 p.m., and the mom and the baby are doing fantastic.” Per confidentiality law, he couldn’t give out further information other than to say the “baby was doing great, the mom was doing great.”
Mackey said the vehicle was parked between the shopping center and pharmacy. “We have experience,” Mackey said,” and “in my 30 years with my department, that is the third delivery that I have been involved with in that particular parking lot. My career total is a lot more than that.”
Mackey said it was the 23rd birth he has been involved with in his fire fighting career. He said they have been a mixture of home and vehicle births, and “God’s been giving them to us for many years.”
Childbirth is part of the curriculum for all emergency medical technicians and responders, he said, and they teach you to make sure that when the baby comes out, they have a nice, soft blanket to go into and keep warm.
Mackey said “most of the time, you look at your kit and you never think about needing it, but it does happen. It’s part of our job and duty and it’s an honor to be there.” He said he spoke “on behalf of all the firefighters. We’re just happy to help out and serve them.”
He said it was not about him, but about the family, which “needs to be very proud of what is going on right now.” They have a very healthy baby, and it was a great moment.
Mackey is Chief of the Ione Fire Department, which last week inducted its first two paid fire fighting personnel, and will add a third in July. He said the Ione Fire still has a “backbone” that is the 100% volunteer, with 35 volunteer fire fighters who are paid by the call.
Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
