Trixster’s Birth Attended by ER Team
3/8/2021
Bellatrix Marie made a spectacular entrance into the Emergency Room at Western Arizona Regional Medical Center in February. It didn’t take her long to start to cry – regardless of the celebratory atmosphere among her parents and hospital staff.
“It was emotional, it was something I will never forget,” said WARMC Registrar Joy Churchill, who met Bellatrix’s dad at the emergency room entrance, receiving the news that the couple’s baby was being born in their car.
Bellatrix’s parents Thomas and Jasmen were headed to the WARMC Family Birthing Unit early Saturday morning when Jasmen realized her pending delivery was progressing more quickly than anticipated. It was the last speed bump in the emergency room parking lot that did the trick, Jasmen said.
ER nurses Anthony Salari and Letha Brown heard the call over the radio. As they hurried toward the vehicle, Salari grabbed a pair of gloves and warm blankets; Brown followed with more equipment. In less than two minutes from the call, Salari had the baby’s airway cleared and the joyous cry of a newborn could be heard.
“She started crying and that was a great sign,” Salari said. “It was cold outside, so I was most concerned about hypothermia.”
At this moment OB nurse Hannah Bunk arrived with the Panda Warmer - the warming bed used to immediately warm the baby as the nursing team assesses the newborn infant.
Mother and baby were safely transported to the Family Birthing Unit within five minutes of birth, where ER attending physician Howard Morris, M.D., completed the delivery procedures. Dr. Morris said he had begun his career in OB many years ago. As an emergency room physician he oversees a birth every few years.
This was Salari’s first delivery as an ER nurse; Brown said she has seen a couple of deliveries in her 12 years as an ER nurse, but nothing as joyous as this birth.
“It was a great outcome, everyone jumped in to help,” Brown said. “We don’t often get this kind of joy in ER.”
“We call her Trixter,” Jasmen said of her new baby girl, “because she tricked us when she was born!”
Obstetrics Director Edith Fricke recognized the assisting team including ER Technician Deni Arreguin, Registrars Joy Churchill and Alie Boydstun, Charge Nurse Shannon Howard and OB Nurse Caroline Marsmaker.
Western Arizona Regional Medical Center withholds last names of newborns and their parents for the safety and privacy of the family
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