Two Montana EMTs faced the emergency medical situation of a lifetime when they realized they would have to deliver their own baby last Wednesday.
The parents had planned to have the birth induced at the hospital later that same morning, but labor began at about midnight and there was no time for the hour-long ride to the hospital.
"I got the car running and pulled out of the driveway, and we were trying to decide whether to go," said father Cary Wilson. "Then she had one big contraction and she knew we weren't going anywhere."
Wilson said neither parent had ever delivered a baby before, but he had witnessed births during EMT training and they had some idea of what to expect from the hospital birth of their first child two and a half years ago.
Wilson immediately called 911 and called over their neighbor, who is also a first-responder and a mother. "Between the three of us we were remembering everything we needed to do," Wilson said. "We didn't have time to get too scared, we just had to react."
Within five minutes of the neighbor's arrival, the delivery was done, Wilson said. The adventure wasn't quite over because they still had to get to the hospital through a blizzard, but they knew an ambulance was on the way and they knew everyone on it.
The ambulance came from the Big Sky Fire Department, where Wilson volunteers and mother Colleen Montgomery used to volunteer. Wilson also works as a ski patroller and Montgomery works with the forest service.
Wilson said that luckily, everything went smoothly with the birth, and their friends on the ambulance were thrilled when they arrived. "Most ambulance calls aren't happy," he said. "It's a rare one where no one is really hurt or sick, and just needs a safe way to get to the hospital."
The family's two and a half year-old son woke up after all the excitement had ended and stayed with the neighbor while the parents rode to the hospital with newborn Charlotte Catherine Wilson.
Wilson said he was glad they didn't try to get to the hospital before the birth and get stuck pulling over on the side of the road. When a birth could happen any minute, he said, it may be better to stay put and call an ambulance.
"They don't teach you this in the EMT books, but if the mother says it's coming, believe her," Wilson said.
