Hero Firefighters Meet 'Miracle' Baby Boy They Delivered In Ambulance

SOUTHOLD, NY — The bravest heroes in Southold Town had tears of joy and big smiles Friday as they gathered to meet the baby boy they delivered in the back of an ambulance recently.

The first responders, who dedicate hours and years to saving lives, and are the first to arrive at the most heartbreaking accident scenes and emergency medical calls, got the happiest of endings when they shared the miracle of birth on Feb. 9.

The call, Southold Fire Department Chief Peggy Killian said, came in at 3:24 a.m.; Dina Raddatz' water had just broken. The ambulance "got as far as Mattituck" on its way to Peconic Bay Medical Center, just about 15 minutes since they arrived at the Raddatz home, before the infant boy made his debut.

The baby, Dina and her husband Brandon's first, arrived just hours before a snowstorm blanketed the North Fork — and he came home Sunday during a snowfall, too.

When her water broke, Raddatz said, "My husband started the car and I told him I didn't think I could get in the Jeep, so he called 911," she said.

Southold Fire Department first responders rushed to the scene, putting her in the ambulance, and her husband kissed her gently and followed in his car.

"By the time we got to the Mattituck car wash, he was born. It was so fast. I couldn't even think about anything," Raddatz said.

In the ambulance with her was her Southold Fire Department member Michelle Salmon; the two women have been friends since elementary school.

"It was awesome, to be there for someone I know," Salmon said. "I was glad I could be there."

"Michelle is a friend of mine. It really helped a lot to have her there," Raddatz said.

It was a first for both lifetime friends: Salmon had never delivered a baby before, and it's Raddatz's first child. And so, they just held hands, tightly, and gave one another love and strength as beautiful baby Silas William made his appearance at five lbs., six ounces.

On Friday, Salmon came to the house to see the baby, bringing him a tiny knitted firefighter hat and boots, tall boots on his tiny legs. The friends talked about the baby, noting that he's a good sleeper, and strong for his age. And Raddatz told Salmon that she's now officially Silas' honorary aunt for life.

Gathering at the Raddatz home Friday, members of the Southold Fire Department described the awe-inspiring experience of helping to deliver a newborn.

"It was quick," said EMT John Bolliver, adding that he didn't expect the delivery to take place in the ambulance. "And then I heard him crying. It was definitely exciting. He was very eager to come out."

He added that, except for his daughter's birth, it was the first time he'd ever been present for a baby's delivery.

Southold Fire Department ex-Chief and EMT Ed Boyd said he's delivered babies before. "We knew it was going to happen. We were just doing everything we've practiced and trained for, so many times."

During the birth, Boyd said the scenario of every possible complication that could occur runs through the minds of EMTs, as well as how to handle those complications. "But thankfully, you had none," he said to Raddatz. "Everything happened just the way it should."

Boyd said down the line, he's looking to recruit the infant for the Southold Fire Department. "I have an application in my pocket," he said, laughing.

Drivers Kent Layton, who handled lights and sirens, and Dave Surozenski, who took the wheel, described the experience.

"I kept telling Dave to relax. Women have been doing this for hundreds of thousands of years." Layton smiled. "Dave did a great job. He's one of our most qualified drivers."

Of the birth, Layton said, "The baby crying in the back of the ambulance is the best thing I've ever heard."

"Me, too," Surozenski agreed, adding that they had to call the hospital and tell them to stand by, because a newborn was on the way.

When they arrived at the hospital, nurses were standing outside, at the ready.

"They were asking, 'Where's the baby?'" Raddatz said. And because he was outside, even just for a few moments, the baby's body temperature was a bit low and he had to be warmed up, the new mom added.

Southold Fire Department member and EMT Deborah Cox, who was also on the call, said, "It was amazing to be a part of it, and to help."

She added that little Silas will have a special story to tell when his class of Southold elementary school kindergartners make their annual trip to the firehouse. "He can say he took his first breath in that ambulance," she said.

Southold Fire Department First Assistant Chief Craig Goldsmith said he didn't ride in the ambulance but was at the house with Southold Fire Department Chief Engineer James Rich for the call.

"I'm proud of these guys," he said, gesturing to the group of firefighters assembled in the Raddatz home. "It's nice to know the patient was in good hands," he said. "They've trained a lot and have had a lot of good teachers in Southold."

Rich added, "I had a lot of confidence in the crew." He said all were thrilled with the positive outcome. "We're happy all around that everything was good," he said.

Rich told Patch in a previous interview that having a baby born so soon after a tragic CPR was a profound experience for the first responders. "They got to see the complete circle of life," he said.

And there's nothing sweeter, Rich said, than delivering a newborn.

"Before I got married, the priest said that they do funerals and weddings but the best are christenings or baptisms because everyone is happy," Rich said.

The same is true for first responders, who rush off to a sea of tragic crashes and scenes. So when they are able to deliver a healthy baby, he said, "It's pretty exciting. It isn't always that you're able to do something that's just good, all the way around," Rich said.

The firefighters jokingly apologized to Brandon Raddatz for having to "rearrange" all the furniture when they came to help his wife.

"I didn't even notice," Raddatz said, smiling.

New mom describes the birth of her "miracle baby"

For Raddatz, her baby's birth was a joy she'd never expected to experience.

"He's actually a miracle baby," she said.

Raddatz, 29, who suffers from endometriosis, was told she'd most likely never conceive.

On July 4, many of the same EMTs who delivered Silas rushed to her house when she was violently ill and vomiting. She learned that day that she was expecting her first child.

"It shocked me to the core. It was very hard to believe," she said.

But her pregnancy was difficult, with severe hyperemesis gravidarum, characterized by severe nausea, vomiting, weight loss, and electrolyte disturbance. She lost 15 lbs. before she began to gain weight during her pregnancy, Raddatz said, and suffered from chronic pain throughout.

"I was in and out of the hospital, and in the emergency room a couple of times for dehydration. It was pretty rough," she said, adding that she was suffering from nausea until the day she gave birth.

But on the day Silas decided to arrive, three weeks early, the actual birth went smoothly. Because he arrived before his due date, Raddatz had only just had her baby shower that Saturday.

Brandon Raddatz said he'd just advised his wife that very morning to pack a bag, since their baby boy was expected soon. But the bag never got packed — and the rest is history, a story that will likely be told to Silas many, many times in the coming years.

Once in the ambulance, Silas made his debut so quickly that there was no time for an epidural — or anything else.

He was the only baby ever to be born in that ambulance, and only the second born in an ambulance in Southold Fire Department's history.

"The delivery was so easy. We couldn't have asked for anything more," Raddatz said, adding that she only had two hours of labor. "All the women I meet in Soutold are jealous of how easy it was." She laughs.

She added that it was interesting to realize the day she found out she was pregnant began in a Southold Fire Department ambulance — and she also delivered her baby in one, as well.

Her husband, she said, had no idea, "no clue", that she'd even had the baby until he got to the hospital and everyone was saying 'Congratulations,'" she said. "He comes into the room —and there's a baby."

"It feels great. I always wanted to be dad," Brandon Raddatz said.

Reflecting on the miracle, Raddatz said, "It was a surreal dream. As hard as these past months have been, in and out of the hospital and bedridden, it was all worth it."

And there isn't even a trace of new mom jitters. "It definitely just came to me," Raddatz said. "I was nervous to become a new mom, but I was told once he's born, it just comes to you — and that's the truth."

The couple has nothing but thanks and gratitude to the Soutold Fire Department — who not only delivered Silas but were there at one of the most painful moments of her life, when Raddatz' father died of a massive heart attack on the family's front lawn, six years ago.

"They're all just a bunch of really good people. It made it all so much easier, just knowing that they're friends of my parents, or friends of mine." Raddatz added, "I'm extremely grateful for all of them. Thank you, very much. If it wasn't for them, I don't know what would have happened."

Raddatz lives with her husband and baby in the same Southold home where she grew up, close enough to Southold schools that she looks forward to the day when Silas can walk to and from classes, just as she did as a child.

The circle of life

The firefighters who joined together at the Raddatz home all mentioned the circle of life. The baby was born soon after a tragic call during which a man passed away.

"What's ironic is that we had a cardiac arrest an hour before," Killian told Patch the day after Silas was born. "One person passes and another is person is born." In a moving twist and celebration of life after sorrow, the same crew that had been on the call for the cardiac patient were the ones to deliver the child, she said.

The baby was the eighth that the Southold Fire Department has delivered.

When you help to deliver a baby, Killian said: "You'll smile for weeks. All we deal with is gloom and doom usually, but when a baby is born, it's such a joyous occasion. Especially when everything goes well. There's no way to describe it. It's probably the only time you'll see grown men cry."

One common refrain was echoed amongst the EMTs who gathered to greet the baby with love: "It's the best call I've ever been on. Just thinking about it makes me smile."

The baby's birth has also caused a ripple of joy in Southold, with neighbors and friends asking about him all around town and calling the hospital to wish the family well.

At the hospital, Raddatz said, "The nurses loved him."

Raddatz said she's eager to fill her child's baby book with memories and clips of his extraordinary birth. "I can't wait for him to hear all the stories," she said.

Looking ahead, she dreams of what how her child's destiny will unfold, wondering if her baby will join the United States Marine Corps, like her husband; she said she hopes he plays soccer, something her family loves. She looks forward to school events and to taking him to tag sales, another family tradition.

And, to the firefighters who rushed to help during the most meaningful moment of their lives, the couple has a heartfelt message, one they delivered with hugs and tears of gratitude on Friday as the joyful group gathered in their home: "We're very thankful. Thank you so much."