LOCAL : Valley Baby Off to a Flying Start

A 21-year-old Antelope Valley woman gave birth to a baby boy in a Los Angeles County Fire Department helicopter taking her to a hospital, authorities said.

Two paramedics delivered the healthy baby, and the mother, Julie Enis, was doing fine at the Antelope Valley Hospital in Lancaster, officials said.

The unusual delivery occurred during the 15-minute flight between Enis’ home in the rural desert community of Lake Los Angeles and the hospital. The boy, who had not yet been named, was delivered by paramedics Dan Coffman and Jack Ferme with pilot Bob Dunbar at the controls.

“She wasn’t in imminent delivery when we left,” said Coffman. “But she delivered about halfway there. It was very quick. No problems at all.”

Coffman has delivered 23 babies, one other in a helicopter. For Ferme, it was his first delivery, in the air or on ground.

Inspector John Lenihan said the mid-air delivery was unusual because in incidents when delivery appears imminent, paramedics routinely choose to deliver the baby at the mother’s home rather than to do so in the tight space of a helicopter.

“We usually try to do it so it happens at the hospital or the house, not in the air,” Lenihan said. “But this time Murphy’s Law took over.”

Because Lake Los Angeles is 20 to 30 minutes from a hospital, Fire Department helicopters from a base in Pacoima routinely answer emergency calls in the community, Lenihan said.