MOUNT VERNON – At 4:24pm on January 9, 2014, the Mount Vernon Fire Department received a call for a woman giving birth. Amazingly, she did not know she was pregnant. Upon arrival, the first arriving medic crew observed Jessica Sowders in active labor. Recognizing there was not time for transport to Knox Community Hospital, the crew immediately radioed main station for more assistance. Within minutes, the scene consisted of Firefighter/Paramedics Todd Davis, Tim Rose, Josh Buzzard, Jason Whisner and Chat Redick. At 4:35pm, the team, led by Todd Davis, successfully delivered Daniel Michael weighing 10 lbs and 4 oz. Mom and baby were happy and healthy.
MVFD Firefighter/Paramedics helped bring little Daniel Michael into the world January 9 at home. From left are Jason Whisner, Chat Redick, and Todd Davis. Jessica Sowders and baby Daniel are seated.
KnoxPages.com photo by Marty Trese
Jessica Sowders and baby Daniel were extremely grateful for the services of MVFD. The family, including grandmother Melissa Jaimes, stopped by the Mount Vernon Fire Department on Friday to visit. Everyone was extremely grateful that the situation had a happy ending.
“Active labor is not something we see everyday,” said Chief Chad Christopher. “It is an intense situation. These five Firefighter/Paramedics handled the situation perfectly which resulted in a new addition to the Sowders family. We are very proud of our guys. They had the knowledge and skills to bring Daniel into the world. ”
Chief Christopher added, “Education is instrumental for firefighters and paramedics. Child birth is something we train for, but rarely get to see. It is one of those low frequency calls, but when it happens, we must be prepared. Fortunately we had a child birth class within the last few months; we were prepared on January 9th.”
Daniel is Jessica’s second child. Two years ago she gave birth to Aaron.
