Hanalei firefighters really delivered for a Kaua‘i woman yesterday, assisting her in giving birth to a healthy child in the back seat of her car after she got stuck in Kuhio Highway traffic following a crash involving two other vehicles.
Near the scene of the accident, the vehicle carrying the woman in labor got stuck in traffic, forcing the delivery of her child by four firefighters from the Hanalei fire station who responded to the call for help and reached her vehicle, said Kaua‘i Fire Department Battalion Chief Bob Kaden.
“A lady in labor tried to get to the hospital, and the Hanalei firefighters helped her give birth in the back of her car,” Kaden said. “She was stuck there because of the accident.”
Kaden said an American Medical Response ambulance crew arrived at the scene to provide help.
“The mom and baby went by ambulance to Wilcox Hospital, and it appears everything is good,” Kaden said.
Assisting were KFD Capt. Sam Lee, fire apparatus operator Steve Fountain, and firefighters Curtis Langstaff and Bruce Chapin, all of whom were commended by Kaden for their actions.
The identity of the woman was not available yesterday.
At the accident scene, at least one man suffered injuries after he crashed through the windshield of a car Saturday afternoon in what appeared to be a two-vehicle accident between the 21- and-22-mile marker on Kuhio Highway east of Kilauea town, Kaden said.
The identity of the man involved in the accident was not available yesterday.
The accident, reported after 1 p.m., halted traffic in both directions on that part of the highway, and temporarily halted traffic headed from Kapa‘a to the North Shore.
Police told motorists that traffic might be reopened by at least 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
The pickup truck in the accident in which the man was an occupant flipped over on the road and slid along the guardrail on the mauka side of the highway before it came to rest, according to Kaden.
Kaden, who drove to the scene of the accident, said it seemed there “were injuries, but I don’t know the extent of them. Evidently, nobody at the scene had died.”
Kaden said it appeared both vehicles, a truck and a van, were severely damaged in the accident. “There is a little bridge, one car was hit by the other,” Kaden said.
Ambulances were at the scene following the accident, Kaden said.
Staff Writer Lester Chang may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or mailto:lchang@pulitzer.net.
