n by Jason Cohen
Special Delivery
Ridgefield Park members help a mother give birth in the middle of the night
Some calls just have to come in the middle of the night. Typically, there is not a lot of action on the overnight shift for Ridgefield Park Local 86 members unless the 2 a. m. feeding comes. Or in this case, the 2 a. m. delivery of a baby. On March 3, a call came in to Local 86 member Sergeant John Tress, who had never experienced what he was about to respond to in his 12 years on the job.
A woman in an apartment on Bergen Turnpike was going into labor. Tress was about a minute away, so he was first to arrive on scene at the apartment building not knowing exactly the nature of the call. Within 10 seconds of being buzzed in, he saw the soon-to-be father, Tito Garcia, on the second floor frantically waiting.
“ Once I saw him, I’ m thinking maybe this is a little bit more serious,” Tress described.
Sensing the urgency, Tress ran upstairs. About halfway to the apartment, Garcia asked Tress if he had ever delivered a baby. But as law enforcement officers know in their job, there is a first time for everything, and that can come on any given day.
As soon as Garcia opened the door, his girlfriend, Taina Peralta was standing across the room and screaming,“ The baby is coming.” Within minutes, Local 86 members Brad Gilmoure and Ken Knebl entered to aid Tress.
Peralta was now standing with her back to the wall and the baby’ s head began to crown, Tress recalled.
“ Even though the ambulance and paramedics were on the way, there was no way they were going to get there,” Tress added.“ This baby was getting born in the next couple of minutes.”
The officers told Peralta to stay calm and that she needed to get on her back. Gilmoure stood behind her and the men carefully guided her to the ground.
At this point, Tress knew it was now or never. The baby’ s eyes
and nose were visible. He quickly prepared Peralta for the final phase of the delivery and told her to push.
Tress, who recently had a 10-month-old son named James, relied on his experience to help him. And moments late, Lyon Judah Garcia came into the world weighing 6 pounds, 13 ounces and measuring 19 inches.
“ All of a sudden, he just came out,” Tress exclaimed.“ It was a bit nerve-wracking at first because the baby wasn’ t crying right away.”
According to Tress, Lyon then let out a big cry and started to move around. Knowing how important it is for skin to skin contact with the mother after birth, the officers carefully placed the baby on Peralta’ s chest.
“ All three of us looked at each other and said,‘ Wow. I can’ t believe we just delivered a baby,’” Tress remarked.“ It was the most rewarding experience that I’ ve ever had in my career.”
The birth took just three minutes. The ambulance then showed up, paramedics clamped the umbilical cord and took mother and baby to the hospital where everyone was pronounced healthy.
Tress noted how that morning he could not fall asleep because he was still on cloud nine after what just took place. In fact, the whole department was buzzing with excitement, he said.
On March 8, Garcia and Peralta were back home with Lyon when the officers stopped by to see them. Mom and dad not only thanked Tress, Gilmoure and Knebl for their service, but surprised Local 86 with a framed certificate commemorating each of them helping to deliver Lyon.
“ I feel like we went above and beyond,” Tress said.“ I’ ll always remember that night. It just really makes us remember why we do this job. Overall this job is about helping people. Here’ s a child I’ ll be able to see from the second he was born until when he grows up.” d
68 NEW JERSEY COPS ■ MARCH 2017