Plainfield firefighters help pregnant mom deliver baby in Jimmy John's parking lot during snowstorm
PLAINFIELD, Ill. - As a winter storm was bearing down, Plainfield firefighters delivered a baby Wednesday morning in a parking lot.
"The call actually came in at the parking lot of Jimmy John’s, which is actually kind of crazy because you know Jimmy John’s ‘freaky fast’ and this was a freaky fast birth," said Chief Jon Stratton.
He says it took only 10 minutes from the time the 911 call came in to when the healthy baby girl was delivered.
"Once I got them into the parking lot, I opened the door up and started the examination of mama and noticed we're having a baby," said Stratton, who was first on the scene.
Paramedics set up a tent to protect the mother from blowing snow and wind, while she gave birth in the front seat.
Stratton says the mom did a "phenomenal" job of staying calm.
"After the baby was delivered, in our OB kits we have something called a silver swaddler, which is essentially a warming blanket that we wrapped the baby in. We wrapped the baby up, dad cut the cord, we took the baby into the ambulance from there to keep it warm because it was obviously pretty cold out," said Lieutenant Bryan Gallup.
This is the first time Stratton and Gallup say they’ve delivered a baby on the job.
"It was really nasty weather out there and it made that day turn into a sunshine day. I mean, it's so overwhelming to be able to do this and to change somebody's life. It's crazy, it's phenomenal," said Stratton.
The family was taken to AMITA Health Saint Joseph Medical Center in Joliet where mom and baby are doing great, according to the hospital. This is the mother’s second child.
The family declined a media interview.