Woman delivers baby girl in ambulance

PANAJI: While the paramedics of 108 GVK EMRI are apt at dealing with emergencies of all kinds, their work profile in the state primarily involves transporting persons in need of urgent medical attention to the nearest health centre after administering medical aid. It is only sometimes that the staff are required to go beyond their scope of work.
One such incident happened recently, when a paramedic carried out the difficult task of helping a woman deliver a baby while she was being transported to a hospital in Valpoi.
The ambulance later shifted the baby and mother to the community health centre in Valpoi.
Vinod Tiwari, a paramedic, and ambulance driver Sandeep Gawande rushed to Dhamshe village, which is about 10km from Valpoi, after receiving a call that a 26-year-old woman was in labour and needed to be taken to the hospital immediately.
When they reached the scene, the patient was indeed in severe pain. Without wasting any time, the ambulance headed towards Valpoi community centre as soon the woman was picked up, said the official of GVK EMRI.
The pregnant woman was accompanied by her husband and an old woman.
Midway to the hospital, she developed advanced labour pains. Sensing she would deliver at any moment, the paramedic directed the ambulance driver to stop the vehicle in a wooded area. He conducted her delivery safely, and also administered preliminary treatment before she and her newborn baby girl were shifted to the community health centre.
A GVK official said that while paramedics are trained in all kinds of emergencies the kind of emergency that Tiwari dealt with is a rare phenomenon. The facility does get calls when a 108 ambulance is summoned to move a pregnant woman to a hospital, nonetheless, he said.