Summer means internships for most Baylor students. For sophomore Corinna Kent, that internship meant delivering a baby.
Over the summer, Kent has been working toward her EMT certification at MassBay Community College back home in Needham, Mass. As part of the pre-med track at Baylor, Kent felt the added course and experience would help her both academically and professionally. The course requires 16 hours of ride-alongs, which led to her to an internship with Patriot Ambulance.
During her first ride-along (accompanying two paramedics), Tropical Storm Elsa was bearing down on Massachusetts. A call came in for a woman in labor, and once she was picked up, the team quickly realized they wouldn’t make it to the hospital before the child was born.
“About five minutes into the ride, I noticed the baby’s head appearing — meaning birth was imminent,” says Kent. “We began prepping for the baby, heating up the truck and collecting all the blankets and towels we could find. The mom was amazing the whole time, very calm through the process. She only pushed about five times and the baby was out. The mom was able to hold her healthy baby boy right away. It was an amazing experience to be a part of.”
By chance, Kent and her classmates had trained on the school’s pregnancy simulation mannequin the day before the delivery, so she felt very prepared for the situation. “I knew the ride-along was going to be more exposure, but I didn’t expect anything crazy like a baby,” she adds.
One of the paramedics noted that Kent was her “right-hand man” during the process. “Some people you just look at and you know they were born for the field,” she told a local media outlet. “This young woman is definitely in the field she belongs. She has a real knack for EMT.”
Sic ’em, Corinna!