SOMERS POINT – A healthy baby boy was delivered 7:20 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 4 at Shore Medical Center. Normally, that’s big news mostly for parents, siblings and grandparents. But what makes this delivery newsworthy it that Ventnor City firefighters delivered the baby in the hospital’s parking lot.
According to Ventnor Fire Chief Michael Cahill, a 911 call alerted the department about an imminent birth in Ventnor Heights. The ambulance crew and an engine responded and took the mother to the hospital, meeting AtlantiCare Paramedics enroute. Ventnor ambulance crew members Anthony Santoro, Shaun Magill and Jim Nunan were part of the team that delivered the baby.
“To our knowledge, he’s a healthy baby boy,” Cahill said. “It was a real team effort.”
Cahill said that while exciting, delivering babies is a common occurrence for department personnel.
“It’s better than the other type of EMS calls we get that involved lots of pain and suffering,” he said.
Cahill said this was the first baby delivered over the last two or three years.
“We usually deliver about one a year,” he said. “I myself delivered three babies when I was part of the crew.”
Cahill said the department is unable to release the name of the mother.
