(COLORADO SPRINGS) — The Schriever Fire Department’s actions are being praised by the fire chief after firefighters and paramedics helped deliver a baby in an ambulance in March.
According to Peterson Space Force Base, U.S. Space Force Capt. Chris Crayon called the Schriever Fire Department’s emergency dispatcher in the early morning hours of March 4, reporting that his pregnant wife Sarah was in immense abdominal pain.
Peterson said firefighters and EMS responded to Crayon’s home, where they found Sarah upstairs on a bathroom floor in “excruciating pain.” Firefighters quickly fashioned a makeshift stretcher out of bedsheets when they realized she wouldn’t be able to stand or walk down the stairs on her own.
“I remember lying on the bathroom floor, just knowing the baby was coming soon,” Sarah said. “I couldn’t stand, and I needed to be picked up. The next thing I know, the firefighters are ripping the bedsheets off and created a makeshift stretcher where they then carried me down the stairs and into the ambulance.”
However, shortly after Sarah was placed in the ambulance, firefighter Brandon Stone noticed that the baby was coming imminently. It became apparent that Stone and the paramedic on scene, Sam Trujillo, were going to have to deliver the baby themselves, Peterson said.
The ambulance quickly detoured and parked in the Schriever SFB Visitor Center’s parking lot, where Matteo Crayon was born into the hands of Trujillo at 4:02 a.m.
“Trujillo was tending to the mother as soon as the baby was born,” Stone said. “We were all trying to warm and dry the baby up as well as give him oxygen—I ended up holding him all the way to the hospital.”
SCHRIEVER SPACE FORCE BASE, Colo. — The Crayon family visited the Schriever SFB, CO fire department on 17 March, 2023 to express their gratitude to assigned firefighters for assisting Sarah Crayon deliver her baby on 4 March. Space Base Delta 1 Commander, U.S. Space Force Colonel David Hanson also took the opportunity to coin the five firefighters for serving the Schriever community in a special way. (U.S. Space Force Photo by Dennis Rogers) 
Courtesy: Peterson Space Force Base
Peterson said the ambulance arrived at the UC Health Memorial Hospital emergency room shortly after, where baby Matteo and his mother stayed for two and a half days. Crayon, who followed behind the ambulance in his own vehicle that morning, said he knew his family was in good hands.
“I held confidence throughout the entire time that this team would keep my family safe,” said Crayon.
Allen Perry, the Schriever Installation Fire Chief, explained that this situation is a perfect representation of what his crew cherishes most—protecting the Schriever community.
“I am so proud of our firefighters and paramedics,” Perry said. “It is a testament to their abilities, readiness and commitment to excellence. We will forever share this incredible moment with the Crayon family.”
The family has since arrived home safely with baby Matteo, Peterson said. Matteo’s older siblings, 14-year-old Christopher and 4-year-old Aiyanna, have enjoyed getting to spend time with their new baby brother, their parents said.
