Russellville police officer delivers baby

By Staff
Melissa Dozier-Cason FCT Staff Writer
Russellville Police Officer Sgt. Brian Shackelford delivered a baby girl while on duty Sunday morning.
Local 911 received a call between 3 and 4 a.m. from a woman in labor. The call came from a cell phone, and the address could not be traced. The caller was not sure of the address, and emergency personnel began trying to locate the caller.
Shackelford found a house with the lights on, and decided to check it out. As he stepped onto the porch, he heard the woman scream.
"She was definitely in labor," Shackelford said.
The woman was lying on the couch and ready to give birth. Everything needed to deliver a baby was in the trunk of his squad car, but he did not have time to get it. He had to make do with two bath towels and one dish towel, Shackelford said.
Shackelford was there about two minutes before the baby was born. Things got a little tense when the baby began to turn blue.
"I turned her over and tickled her foot; anything to help clear her airway. Once her airway was clear, she pinked back up and was pretty." Shackelford said.
The mother and baby were taken to Russellville Hospital, Shackelford said.
Shackelford has been a police officer and emergency medical technician for 14 years.
"Of all the things I have seen and done, that's the one thing I never wanted to do, but I am glad that I was there to do it, and everyone is okay," Shackelford said.