Dumfries-Triangle EMTs rewarded after delivering a baby boy

The Dumfries-Triangle Rescue Squad is celebrating the birth of a baby boy.

Five members of the department’s Station 23, located at 16530 River Ridge Boulevard near Dumfries, were awarded the “stork award” on Wednesday night after they all helped deliver a healthy baby boy at 7:46 p.m. on May 3, officials said.

EMT-B and Station Personnel Director Rodney Fielding, EMT-B and Junior Squad Advisor Corinna Ross-Witkowski, EMT-B Jordan Skaines, EMT-B William Wunderle, and Junior Member Evan Jurgensen were all on the scene and helped deliver the baby, Fielding said.

They were all given the stork award — a small pin that depicts a stork holding a blanket with a baby inside — during a company meeting on Wednesday, Fielding said.

Jurgensen’s mother, Dumfries town councilwoman Michele Jurgensen and rescue squad Chief C.D. Ester helped present the awards to the team, Fielding said.

“It actually becomes part of the [recipient’s] uniform,” Fielding said of the award.

Fielding said the award was a rare thing to get for EMTs, since most newborns they encounter while on calls are usually delivered before or after the unit arrives on the scene.

Ross-Witkowski said that she delivered the baby, but her team helped her in other equally-important ways.

Her assistants helped keep the mother and other people nearby calm, gathered records, retrieved supplies, and also drove their rescue vehicle to transport the mother to a nearby hospital, Ross-Witkowski said.

Ross-Witkowski said that one of the most intriguing factors in the birth was that the majority of her team is still in high school.

Jurgensen and Skaines are only 17-years-old; Wunderele is 19.

They all attend Potomac High School.

Ross-Witkowski was proud of their performance.

“Very rarely do you get the excitement of a live birthing, especially when you are still in high school,” Ross-Witkowski said.

The junior squad program at Station 23 allows people still in high school to gain real-world experience by going on rescue calls a few nights a week when they are not busy in class, according to Ross-Witkowski.

Members of the team said that they were concerned while first arriving on the scene.

“We were all pretty nervous at first, but I surprised myself and ‘stood together’ better than I thought I would,” Skaines said.

They sourced the successful birthing to what they learned while in the junior squad program.

“The training that we got from Corinna, and others, kicked in and we knew exactly what we were doing,” Wunderle said.

Ross-Witkowski could not provide details as to the mother, or baby’s identity, or where the baby was born due to HIPAA law restrictions. She did say the mother was happy with everything her team did.

“Everybody was calm, and my team was courteous and professional,” Ross-Witkowski said.
Skaines said the response from their fellow coworkers after they found out of the birth was “shock and awe.”

Ross-Witkowski said they are actively looking for junior squad members who attend high schools across the Prince William and Stafford county region.

Staff writer David Pierce can be reached at 703-530-3905.