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Two seasoned Metro Emergency Medical Services (EMS) paramedics in Gqeberha were in for a pleasant surprise on Thursday, when they assisted a labouring mother in safely bringing her twins into the world.
With zero time to get the patient to the Dora Nginza Hospital for the birth, access to the patient's home hampered due to the recent floods, and the babies being in the breech position, Crevelon Damons and Creswell van Heerden kept their cool and relied on years of training and experience to facilitate a safe home birth.
Damons and Van Heerden arrived at work shortly after 06:30 on a particularly cold morning and were not scheduled to work together on the day.
They had just received a handover from the previous shift and were busy checking their ambulances when the call came in via the EMS control room of a woman in labour in Walmer.
Damons said they boarded his ambulance and made haste to the address, after learning that the woman was in an advanced stage of labour with the twins possibly in a breech position.
Upon their arrival at the address, direct access to the house was hampered due to muddied roads caused by the floods, forcing them to park the ambulance some distance away and walk to the house on foot carrying their equipment.
"When we got there, the first baby had just been born. The second baby came down the birth canal legs first.
"Ideally, during a breech delivery, we rush to get the patient to the hospital where there are doctors present, but there was simply no time.
"That baby was coming, so we kept calm and did what we are trained to do even though the adrenaline was pumping."
The paramedics-duo had done their training together many years ago, which meant that they understood and respected each other's work ethic, Damons added.
Once the babies were born their umbilical cords were cut.
"We checked their vitals and made sure that everyone was stable before transporting the mother and the newborns to the Dora Nginza Hospital.
"They are a pigeon pair, one boy and one girl. Everyone is safe and healthy," Damons said proudly.
