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Baby Savannah with her mother and the North Adams ambulance crew who helped save her life.

(Amalio Jusino)

It was a morning like any other, until they got the call: A North Adams woman had given birth in her driveway, and the child was in distress after striking her head.

That's when North Adams Ambulance Service Assistant Chief Amalio Jusino knew his team may be called on to save a life.

"En route, adrenaline was pumping," Jusino said. "Obviously calls of this nature we don't do every day, but we trained for them often."

The woman's husband called 911 at 11:17 a.m. on Monday. Within 90 seconds, Jusino, Lt. Amanda Tobin and EMT Kevin Stant were on the scene. The father had stayed on the line and placed the infant, named Savannah, in the family's car; the mother was sitting down, after delivering unexpectedly feet from her front door.

"At that point I went to the baby immediately," Jusino said. "I noticed that the baby wasn't breathing adequately."

Tobin tended to the mother, while Jusino, a 10-year veteran of the North Adams ambulance corps, cleared the baby's airway and stimulated breathing. He told the father to turn the car's heat on, to keep the child warm as the mother was placed on a stretcher.

The ambulance crew stabilized the baby girl, with a quick response that Jusino credited to training and teamwork between his staff, the North Adams Fire Department and police officers who responded to the scene.

"I just felt a calm come over me, knowing that I had the training. I knew what I needed to do," he said.

As Jusino rode with the family to Berkshire Medical Center, the rush wore off, and the power of the moment sunk in.

"I will admit to being pretty emotional on the way to the hospital. It ended up being such a positive story," he said. "I told the mother I was going to cry."

Both mother and child are doing well, Jusino said. The baby was diagnosed with a skull fracture and was treated at Bay State Medical Center, where a neurologist determined the injury did not require surgery and would heal on its own.

The ambulance crews' actions have won them praise on social media, with over 500 people liking Jusino's account of the events on Facebook. Not least, fittingly, from the mother herself.

"Just wanted to say a BIG thank you to everyone involved, both Savannah and I are doing awesome!" she commented on Jusino's post. "You saved my little girl's life and I am so incredibly thankful to you all!"