Baby -- and Mom -- Breathe Easier After Arrival at Fauquier Hospital
Saturday morning, another baby had a dramatic ride to Fauquier Hospital, but this one came without his mom.
Desiree Lickey said that her 5 month-old son Damien Jackson had been having trouble breathing since Friday night. “We live in Manassas, but came to visit here and got snowed in.”
Damien seemed to be a little better after his mom set up a steam tent, but Friday night he hardly slept at all. By Saturday morning, he was gasping for breath and Desiree called 9-1-1.
A Fauquier County Department of Fire and Emergency Services ambulance set out with a pickup truck from the Warrenton Volunteer Fire Department following behind for safety. When the ambulance slid off the road just out of town, Natasha Randall and Andrea Schaeffer of Fauquier County DFES climbed in the pickup with Wade Kastorff and Craig Rispoli of the Warrenton Fire Department.
Natasha said, “When we got to the house, the boy was almost non-responsive. He opened his eyes a little, but was very lethargic and had trouble breathing. He wasn’t moving around.”
The women gave Damien oxygen and a nebulizer breathing treatment, set up an IV, and struck out for the hospital in the pickup truck with Wade and Craig.
Problem: there was no room for his mom in the pickup truck. Desiree remembered, “I was really scared. I’d never left him before. And letting him go like that, into the snowstorm, I was scared.”
But the pickup arrived safely at Fauquier Hospital and breathing treatments set Damien right again very quickly. By the time the Sheriff’s Office delivered Desiree to the hospital, her son was smiling and grabbing his toes happily.
Dr. Gregory Wagner of the Fauquier Hospital Emergency Department checked Damien out thoroughly – while simultaneously delighting Damien with his broad, comforting grin.
It’s been a tough few days for rescue squads all over the region. Indicating Wade and Craig, Natasha said, “These guys are the rock stars. They got us back here safe.”
The four admit they haven’t slept very much the past two days. When it was mentioned that they all looked pretty alert for folks who hadn’t slept much, Natasha said, “We just brought in a 5-month-old baby who couldn’t breathe to the hospital in a pickup truck. Give me a minute.”
Adrenaline will keep you alert.
