Conn. Rescuers Fight Through Downed Trees to Get to Ill Baby

Nov. 01--SHERMAN -- The frantic mother of a 9-month-old baby suffering from respiratory problems started walking with her baby out of her neighborhood early Sunday morning because emergency personnel couldn't reach her home.

As emergency crews from two towns tried slashing through the downed trees on routes 37 and 39, paramedic Jim Stead from Danbury Hospital drove across the border into New York state trying to find a way to reach the baby.

Stead eventually made it through, took the baby in his SUV back out to where an ambulance was waiting to bring the toddler to Danbury Hospital. The baby boy is doing fine, town officials said.

It is unclear how far the mother walked with her baby during the middle of the storm, but the harrowing rescue highlights the difficulty rural towns have when a storm like this past weekend's hits their area. Both New Fairfield and Sherman were still digging out Monday from the snow and downed trees and wires littering their roads.

"I can't imagine what those parents were going through. I know our people were doing all they could to get through," New Fairfield First Selectmen John Hodge said Monday. "It was a massive and heroic effort by the paramedic and everyone involved to get that baby to the hospital."

The initial 911 call came in around 1:30 a.m. on Sunday morning as the snow was finally winding down. The call from the unidentified mother was that her 9-month-old son had respiratory problems.

The child's father was plowing snow in New York state when he got word of the emergency. He frantically tried to clear Route 37 so he could get home, Hodge said.

The family lives in the Timber Trails development area of Sherman which is normally accessible by either Route 37 or Route 39, but both state roads were blocked and Sherman emergency personnel realized immediately that they would not be able to get to the baby.

"There are tons of trees down everywhere. The town is a mess," Sherman First Selectwoman Andrea O'Connor said. "Everyone is trying to help each other out so that we can respond to emergencies as best as possible given the conditions. This incident shows how dangerous it can be if medical personnel cannot reach you."

In this case Sherman called New Fairfield emergency personnel for assistance. New Fairfields crews tried to enter Sherman by Haviland Hollow Road but they also were blocked.

Sherman officials were going to use a Gator, an all terrain vehicle, to navigate Route 37 to reach the home, but at that point Stead had made it through and found the woman walking out of her neighborhood trying to find help.

Meanwhile as Stead, Sherman firefighters and New Fairfield firefighters were all trying to chop their way through, a responding ambulance slid off Haviland Hollow Road.

Hodge said public works employees responded and using three trucks got the ambulance out of the ditch just before Stead arrived with the baby. Nearly an hour after the initial 911 call, the ambulance transported the baby to Danbury Hospital. The call normally would have taken minutes.

Hospital officials would not comment on the rescue. Stead is a paramedic who works for Danbury Hospital but is assigned to calls in New Fairfield, where he lives. Hospital officials also declined to make Stead available for an interview or provide an update on the baby's condition

.

Copyright 2011 - The Hartford Courant, Conn.