Draftsman Takes Up Obstetrics

The following story made the local newspapers today. Thayer is a small town of maybe 500 population, so the Fire Dept. is made up of local volunteers. The fireman named Jason Adams and his father operate a professional drafting business. Both of them have provided drafting services for me in the past. Eventually, they helped educate me on AutoCAD so that now I only call on them for help on rare occasions. They both are volunteers and have worked many accidents and medical assists in addition to fires. On several occasions when I was in their office, the siren would go off and they would disappear. I would answer their phones and try to do as much as I could on my own while they were gone. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first newborn event either of them has worked. Imagine doing CPR on a baby weighing less than four pounds!

I have performed surveys for the fire chief, Larry Myers, and the parents of the two women mentioned as firefighters.

Emergency call
in Thayer results.
in surprise birth

Harold Campbell
Tribune Reporter
THAYER -- For Lisa Johnson and Thayer
Fire and Rescue personnel Friday was full of
surprises.

About 1 p.m. that day, Johnson's husband,
Brad, made an emergency call to the Thayer
fire department saying Lisa, his wife, was
having what he thought was an appendicitis
attack.

When first responders arrived at the home
a few minutes later, they found her in the
bathroom, sitting on the commode. Instead of
suffering from appendicitis, however, she was
having a baby.

The thing was, Johnson, who is in her 40's,
didn't even know she was pregnant.
"This is one of those situations that you'll
probably only have once in a lifetime," Larry
Myers, Thayer fire chief, said Wednesday.
Myers said when he and the rest of the first
response team arrived, they saw Johnson sitting
on the commode, with the umbilical cord
and baby already out.

The baby was considered code blue, and
team members Jason Adams, Kristin Carrico
and Tina Wheeler immediately started CPR. In
addition to Myers, team member Tony Vining
also assisted at the scene.

"It was quite a shock to go into the bathroom
and see her there having a baby," Myers said.
Responders were able to revive the newborn,
a boy weighing about 3 pounds, 12 ounces.
The baby was in its 34th week, he said.
The mother and child were then transported
by ambulance to Neosho Memorial Regional
Medical Center and later flown by helicopter
to Wesley Medical Center in Wichita.
Myers said they are in good condition but
are expected to remain at Wesley for about two
weeks before returning to Thayer.
No family members could be reached for
comment Wednesday.

Myers said Johnson was not aware she was
pregnant until Friday. In fact, he said, her physician
had begun treating her for menopause.
"So many things worked out just right,"
Myers said. "The man upstairs wanted this
child to live."