First responders never know what call they’ll respond to each shift, but they are trained to prepare for anything. Delivering a baby in a church parking lot at 1:30 am, however, was a first for a group of first responders in Tennessee that included St. George’s University School of Medicine Term 2 student Fabian Oden, as reported by local news outlet WSMV in a story covering the event.
“It was an exciting moment,” Mr. Oden told SGU News. “I was proud of how we responded as a team to something we really weren’t expecting.”
Mr. Oden aspires to become an emergency medicine physician, and his experience as a paramedic, which he returned to while on summer break from SGU, will certainly serve him well on his journey to becoming one.
“As a paramedic, you need to understand that in emergency situations not everything goes as planned,” said Mr. Oden. “You need to be able to adapt quickly. And calls like this make me more confident about the path I’m on. I know I will be able to handle these situations as a physician.”
And handle it is exactly what Mr. Oden and team did when they responded to the call. While Mr. Oden has been a paramedic for some time now, and was a police officer prior to that, he recognizes the value his medical education is adding to his work.
Reflecting on that value, Mr. Oden said: “Learning the why behind these situations, and passing on that knowledge to other first responders, improves the overall response communities receive.”
To read the full story as reported by WSMV, click here.
—Sarah Stoss