Firefighters and paramedics from two Pierce County stations got a rare happy ending to an emergency call last week, reuniting with a mother and her baby girl who was delivered five weeks early on the way to the hospital. The crews from Station 40 and Station 67 traded their turnout gear for baby snuggles during the visit, capping off a call that began as a medical emergency and ended with a new life.
According to Central Pierce Fire & Rescue, Engine 40, Medic 40 and MSO 67 responded on July 16 to a mother in active labor, five weeks before her due date. With the crews’ help, she delivered the baby girl on the way to the hospital, and the department says both mother and baby are doing great. Station 40 sits at 401 Washington Ave SE in Orting, while Station 67 operates out of 8005 Canyon Road East in the Summit community of unincorporated Pierce County, according to the district’s own station map.
The reunion, held last week, gave the responding crews a chance to see the outcome of a call that started under pressure and finished as one of the more memorable moments of their careers. As part of the visit, the firefighters received pink stork pins, a longstanding recognition within fire and EMS agencies nationwide for personnel who assist in out-of-hospital deliveries. The pins are color-coded pink for a baby girl and blue for a baby boy, a tradition explained by NPR Illinois.
Not the District’s First Roadside Delivery
This isn’t the first time Central Pierce crews have earned stork pins for a field birth. The department previously held a similar reunion after firefighters from Truck 61 and Medic 63 delivered a baby boy inside a medic unit en route to the hospital following an emergency call in April 2023, awarding blue pins that time around…