Mother gives birth on a fireboat just before Christmas

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ANDERSON ISLAND, Wash. (KING) - A Washington state woman has the memory of a lifetime in the birth of her daughter, having delivered her child on a fireboat.

A quiet night just before Christmas turned into “panic, it was absolutely panic,” Katherine Sims said.

On Dec. 23, Sims called 911 after she suddenly went into labor at her home on Anderson Island.

“EMS told me that absolutely the baby’s coming. I have no choice in the matter,” Sims said.

Volunteer EMTs and firefighters were dispatched right away.

“And they just scooped me up, put me down there. It was a whole process to get me down to the boat on the gurney in the first place,” Sims said. “So, at that point, I’m realizing this is, this is getting real, really, really fast.”

A Washington state mother recounts the memorable story of how EMTs helped her deliver her baby... — A Washington state mother recounts the memorable story of how EMTs helped her deliver her baby on a fireboat. (Source: KING, ANDERSON ISLAND FIRE & RESCUE, CNN)

With the last ferry done for the night, the fastest way to reach the mainland hospital was by fireboat.

“But once you hit the wakes and with the contractions, it was ouch,” Sims said. “It was absolutely painful as heck.”

It took about 10 minutes to get to the dock.

Once they hit land, Sims’s water broke.

“OK, this is def con. There is no way I’m making it to any hospital at this point,” Sims said. “And then those next two pushes, it was like, I did this. I am so proud of myself.”

At 12:01 a.m., baby Halle was born on the boat, delivered by volunteer EMTs who were by her mother’s side throughout the night.

“You hear that first cry, that first squawk, and a nice big deep breath, and it’s just kind of like everybody kind of took a big deep breath in,” said Capt. Megan Arzola, the EMS captain of Anderson Island Fire and Rescue.

It was the first delivery for Arzola and only the second in Anderson Island Fire and Rescue’s history to happen aboard a vessel.

“These are honestly the kind of calls that we like to have, that we like to remember,” Arzola said.

It is a memorable gift Sims will celebrate every Christmas Eve.

“This is definitely one of those things I will never forget, and I want her to see who rallied in her corner and helped her get to where she’s at,” she said. “So absolutely, I want her to remember this and we all want to remember this one.”