by Nick Delgado

Guam - The agency tasked with responding to 911 calls continues to find itself in an emergency itself. The problem is so severe, a woman who was five months pregnant and experiencing complications waited for close to two hours to be transported to the hospital. She ended up giving birth.

It's yet another heart wrenching story related to the impact the Guam Fire Department's shortage of medics is having on the island's community. GFD Spokesperson Joey San Nicolas confirms that just before 11 o'clock in the morning Thursday GFD responded to report of a pregnant woman who was experiencing abdominal pain in the village of Merizo.

"We dispatched our nearest response unit," he confirmed. But instead of an ambulance, a forestry truck from Umatac responded within minutes. "At the same time, the nearest ambulance was also dispatched from GMH, while en route right around the Agat area, they had broken down," San Nicolas added.

During this time San Nicolas says GFD called the military for mutual aid, but they were unable to assist. In between this time, according to San Nicolas the woman gave birth. It wasn't until almost two hours after the initial call was made that another GFD medic made it to Merizo.

"It was a premature delivery," he said, "and they when the medic arrived they immediately transported the mother and the baby. While en route the baby's condition deteriorated and our medics provided CPR en route to Naval Hospital."

According to Joint Region Marianas deputy public affairs officer Coleen San Nicolas-Perez, the baby boy died. And as for his 17-year-old mother, she was discharged from Naval Hospital today.

This latest tragedy follows an incident that occurred last month. When an ambulance wasn't available to respond to an 11-year-old girl in need of CPR in Tamuning. At the time there were only three medics running, and the only one available to respond at the time was in Inarajan. A military ambulance ended up picking up the child, but she later died at GMH. "It's just the ongoing issues we have with the ambulances. They're in a state of disrepair; as we fix others go down. And then its just a constant vicious cycle."

A vicious cycle that's been ongoing for more than a decade. Matter of fact this was Fire Chief Mike Uncangco's statement eight years ago: "Our department has been in a state of emergency for the last 5 to 6 years."

Fast forward to today, evidently things haven't changed, instead GFD on average is left with three to four medics to respond to emergencies on any given day and time, leaving residents like this young mother waiting more than an hour for transport. "This is a severe serious tragedy that we're not taking lightly we're just doing everything we can to ensure that it does not happen again," San Nicolas said.

Currently there are three medics serving the island's entire population. Looking toward the future GFD is hoping to procure new medics and make repairs to its fleet from the recent a half-million dollar award in grant money from the Department of the Interior.

Of note: all firefighters are EMT trained and certified. They wait and attend to their patients until an ambulance arrives for transport to the hospital.