NEWS

Lansing firefighters help deliver twins in tiny bathroom

Ken Palmer
Lansing State Journal

LANSING - Lansing firefighters kicked off the new year by helping deliver twin boys under unusual circumstances.

Lansing Fire Department ambulance

The babies were born around 10:30 p.m. Monday in a tiny bathroom at a home on the city's south side, with water spraying from a broken toilet tank.

"It was very, very chaotic for a little bit, but it worked out phenomenally," said Lansing Fire Department spokesman Steve Mazurek, who responded to the call.

Three ambulance crews, two engine companies and a battalion chief responded to the call for a childbirth in progress, with both babies potentially in jeopardy, Mazurek said.

When they got there, one of the twins had arrived and the other was about to be born with the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck. Medics helped deliver the second baby, cut the umbilical cords, cleaned and warmed the newborns and tended to their mother.

All three patients were taken to Sparrow Hospital, with all of the fire personnel in tow. A crew returned to the hospital later that night to check on the mother and infants. They were told that all were doing well, Mazurek said.

"This was a new one for all of us," he said. "Twins are a rarity. None of us had ever delivered twins, let alone (in a bathroom). For as bad a situation as it was, it couldn't have worked out any better. What a way to bring in the new year. We were talking afterward and saying, 'this is why we do what we do.'"

Contact Ken Palmer at (517) 377-1032 or kpalmer@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @KBPalm_lsj.