Jim Reeder

Calm erupted with the jubilant sound of a baby's first breath.

Jim Reeder, Butler city firefighter and EMT, is being credited with saving a baby girl's life after a premature delivery Monday.

The 911 call was heard at 2:20 p.m. directing the emergency responders to the West End neighborhood home.

Reeder said he felt nervous on the drive to the scene.

“(The baby) was thought to have been breathing, and then (she) was not,” Reeder said. “You don't like to hear about that from any kind of call, let alone child calls.”

Lt. Don Crawford said the department encounters more calls regarding the elderly. He said calls to treat children are rare.

“With kids, it's more stressful because they're smaller, they're younger and they have their whole lives ahead of them,” Crawford said.

He said Reeder handled himself well.

“He did it very professionally and calmly,” Crawford said. “Everything went very well.”

Reeder said he and the other firefighters, including Crawford, Skip Lohr and Brad Sabolcik, worked to calm the family and save the baby's life.

“(The parents) were worried, which they have every right to be,” Reeder said. “You just want to keep everybody calm. The mom and dad, they were great.”

Reeder said next he just followed his training.

He cleared the baby's airways with suction, then began rubbing the child's chest and back.

He said he also did some chest compressions, using the two-finger technique customary for an infant.

“You just kind of revert back to the training you go through,” Reeder said. “It all kind of kicks in even though you don't get to practice those skills very often.”

Reeder knew “the cavalry” — the ambulance rescue squad — was on its way. His only priority was getting the baby to take that first breath, which she did moments before the ambulance arrived.

“She was fine after that,” Reeder said. “Once you get them to start breathing, their color comes too and that's the happy time when they start breathing.”

Reeder said with that first breath came a long drawn-out moment of relief, before time re-accelerated. He said he followed the baby outside as EMTs loaded her into the ambulance for transport.

The baby's condition is unknown at this time, but Reeder said he hopes to get an update later.

He said the whole department is hoping for the best, and he will never forget this call.

“I just told the guys that this is one of those things you didn't think could happen when you drove to work today,” Reeder said. “You never know what you can get into.”