SAN DIEGO – An off-duty Border Patrol Agent delivered a baby boy in a public bathroom at Liberty Station, on Sunday.
Border Patrol Agent George Huertas, who is a member of the Border Patrol Search, Trauma and Rescue (BORSTAR) Team in San Diego, responded to a woman giving birth in a bathroom stall. A trained emergency medical technician (EMT), Agent Huertas successfully helped deliver the baby and introduced him to his mother.
“If you know George, you know he is too humble to bring this up for attention,” said Michael E. McEwan, the Acting Commander of San Diego BORSTAR. “He only told a group of us in passing during muster and downplayed the whole incident.”
Agent Huertas and his family were at Liberty Station that morning participating in the Miracle Babies Superhero 5K event. Agent Huertas is highly active within the premature baby community, as he has a son who spent the first three months of his life in the NICU. As Huertas and his family were packing up to leave, his sister ran over to him and told him that a woman was giving birth in a nearby public restroom.
Huertas ran to the restroom and found the woman in the process of giving birth in one of the restroom stalls. He began providing aid to the woman and her unborn child. Though the bathroom was not an ideal location and conditions were unsanitary, Huertas stepped in to help using rubber gloves provided by a janitor.
Using his EMT training, Agent Huertas was able to stimulate the child and initiate breathing. He wrapped the baby up with one of his sister’s baby blankets. And after cleaning the baby boy’s face, he introduced the child to his mother for the first time.
Agent Huertas remained with the new mother until better equipped medical personnel arrived on scene to address the baby’s umbilical cord and take over care.
“George responds to those in need on and off duty,” said McEwan. “He is a strong advocate for those under his care. He truly embodies what it means to be a BORSTAR Agent and lives our moniker ‘So Others May Live.’”