When Erastus Summers decided to make his way into the world he was in a big hurry and there was no stopping him. Thanks to Taylor-Snowflake Fire & Medical staff everything turned out just fine.
On Feb. 6, Laurie and Brandon Summers were at home as Laurie started to feel labor pains and began preparing to leave for the hospital in Show Low. Her water broke, and she knew that they had better hurry.
As the couple made their way into Snowflake and Taylor from their home several miles outside of Snowflake they realized they didn’t have time to get to Show Low. Erastus was in a big hurry to make his debut. “It just started progressing faster and he was ready to come as soon as my water broke,” said Laurie Summers.
The couple made the decision to quickly get to the Taylor-Snowflake Fire & Medical station located on Papermill Road in Taylor. Lucky for them the staff was at the station working on projects and wrapping up some training.
Paramedics John Mercer and Justin Kriter along with Fire Chief William Nelson flew into action after Brandon Summers pounded on the door of the fire station to get help for his wife. Firefighters Robert Tryon and Keith Plimpton were also on duty that shift to assist. They barely had time to get Laurie on the gurney before the baby was being delivered. Nelson said, “They got here and backed their car up and we pulled the ambulance next to it, got her out and put her on the gurney and she said ‘it’s coming!’” That is when little Erastus Brandon Summers made his hurried arrival. The baby was healthy and happy and weighed in at 10 pounds and one ounce.
As far as anyone knows this is the first baby born in the parking lot at the fire station in Taylor. Maybe someday when little Erastus is playing at Freeman Park across the street from the fire station with his siblings, he can point to the fire station and say, “I was born right over there!”
For both Mercer and Kriter this was the first baby delivery that they performed outside of their extensive training, which requires five deliveries. The event was also a real morale booster for everyone. So much of what paramedics and firefighters do is related to tragic events that involve death and destruction but not on this day. On this day, they were blessed to be able to assist a family with the miracle of bringing a child into the world. “It was definitely a good day,” said paramedic Kriter. Fire Chief Nelson said of the experience “I see it being a rejuvenating thing of why we do what we do.” Paramedic Mercer added, “It was an awesome feeling. I thought it was cool.”
On Valentine’s Day Feb. 14, the Summers family went to the fire station to reunite and thank those who helped deliver Erastus. The four other Summers children were given fireman’s hats and got treated to a full VIP tour of the fire station and its equipment while fire and medical staff took turns holding the adorable new baby and sharing thoughts and laughs of the entire experience.
