A pair of off-duty firefighters safely delivered a baby Wednesday, Feb. 25, in the Stamford fire house.
Charlotte Wyckoff was born in the passenger seat of her parents' car, which they pulled into the truck bay at the Stamford Fire Department mere moments before her arrival, according to former fire chief Cliff Mueller, who helped deliver the baby.
Parents Linda and Joe Wyckoff were passing through Stamford on their way to Bassett Medical Center in Cooperstown — more than an hour's drive from their home in Gilboa — when they realized they weren't going to make it to the hospital in time for their daughter's arrival, Mueller said.
"We were just cleaning up some of the trucks and getting ready for our next call when this one came in," he said. "If I said the baby was born 10 minutes later, that would be too long."
Mueller, a father of two, said he told Linda to "give me one more good push" just before he "caught" the newborn.
A 45-year veteran of the department and two-time former chief, Mueller said he was never formally trained in delivering a baby.
"I've been around for a lot of the trainings that go on here," Mueller said. "It's kind of like osmosis. You just pick up on some things after a while."
"If you work this job long enough, after a while, you have a 'just do it' mindset to get through," he continued. "After it's over, you kind of shiver when you think about it."
Mueller, who delivered the baby alongside fellow firefighter Peter Pioppo, said the pair joked that the fire department was now offering "curbside delivery" amid the coronavirus pandemic.
"I've worked alongside these guys for years," he said. "We keep it light and we keep it professional."
Next to arrive on the scene was Stamford EMS Capt. Margaret Schoonmaker.
"I got there right after the baby was born, maybe a minute later," Schoonmaker said. "She was very new."
It's been a long time since anyone in Stamford delivered a baby, Schoonmaker said. A few babies were born in an ambulance years prior, but the town has since discontinued its ambulance service and relies solely on a fly car, a vehicle with all the trappings of an ambulance but is not equipped for medical transport.
"It was all guys there," Schoonmaker said. "They were bugging out of their heads, but they did wonderfully — they did what came instinctively, bless their hearts. They couldn't have done anything better or differently."
Schoonmaker, a mother herself, said she made sure Linda was warm and the baby looked healthy before handing them off to the care of Maggie Kuebler, a paramedic supervisor with AMR.
Kuebler, who was training a paramedic student at the time, said she oversaw the cutting of the umbilical cord and the delivery of the placenta.
"Delivering a baby is one of those things you touch on in school, but it's nothing like the real thing once you get there," she said.
Kuebler rode with mother and baby to Bassett Medical Center, where "everybody checked out healthy," she said.
"It's not a once-in-a-lifetime experience if you stay in EMS long enough," said Kuebler, a paramedic since 2016. "It's tough sometimes, but these are the little things that make you say 'I love my job.'"
Stamford Fire Chief A.J. Vamosy said he was "super proud" of all involved.
"They are the best group to work with, on and off the fire and EMS scene," he said. "Cliff's always been one of my mentors. I've grown up in the firehouse and he's known me since I was in diapers. He always has good instincts and judgment when situations escalate."
"I'm just tickled to death that I got to bring somebody into the world," Mueller said. "Usually, I'm watching people leave it."
Sarah Eames, staff writer, can be reached at [email protected] or 607-441-7213. Follow her @DS_SarahE on Twitter.
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