NASHUA – Police officers have to be prepared for anything when a call comes in, even if that requires racing to an apartment building to assist with delivering a baby.

Responding to a call like this was a first for both Officers Adam Fisher and Jonathan Turcotte of the Nashua Police Department. On March 5, the two worked together to welcome a baby into the world in the living room of an apartment on Amherst Street. Fisher was first to arrive on scene, and had never seen an umbilical cord until he was tasked with tying it off while waiting for paramedics to respond. When Fisher received that call, he said what was going through his mind at the time was, “haven’t seen this one yet.”

While standard traffic stops are quite common for officers, helping to deliver an infant is not, and Deputy Chief Kevin Rourke said he has never been to one of these sorts of calls in his 24 years.

Fisher had transitioned from third to second shift when the ambulance call came in. He had just observed a motor vehicle infraction and was about to make a traffic stop, but had to quickly shift gears to respond to this call. Turcotte had just done some work off Main Street when the call came in and also headed to the apartment, arriving shortly after Fisher.

After arriving, Fisher made his way to the door and recalls hearing yelling on the other side. Fisher knocked and announced his presence, and the grandmother let him inside.

“To my immediate right on the floor was a mattress with a mother who had just given birth to the baby,” Fisher said. “The baby was in the fathers hands, umbilical cord intact and everything, and he was on the phone with 9-1-1 trying to gather information.”

Soon after entering the apartment, Turcotte arrived to assist Fisher.

“I don’t have children, but officer Turcotte does, so I was happy to see him come, and we sort of took over from that point,” Fisher said.

A 9-1-1 operator walked Fisher through exactly what he needed to do with the umbilical cord. Fisher said the father of the baby had a piece of yarn he happened to have in his hand. Fisher said it seemed as though the father was trying to multitask three things at once, and so he took the yarn and took the phone and tied off the umbilical cord tightly.

While doing that, he had to let Turcotte inside, still holding the phone while running to the door. Turcotte said the two officers have learned how each other are, and that he knows Fisher does not have kids. Turcotte has two kids, as well as a new K9, Kyzar. Given that he is comfortable with infants, he jumped in and assisted with the newborn, and took the baby from the father once inside the apartment. Paramedics arrived just behind Turcotte, within a minute to a minute-and-a-half. The two officers then began calming down the father.

“What I’ve come to learn is that panic doesn’t do anything,” Turcotte said. “It doesn’t help you, it doesn’t help anybody else. Remaining calm and showing the demeanor that we show tends to help whoever we’re giving assistance to. It tends to benefit them as well.”

When paramedics arrived, they took care of the umbilical cord and transported the baby while the officers stayed with the mother to make sure she was safe and OK. Eventually, another ambulance was sent to transport the mother to the hospital.

Nashua Police Chief Michael Carignan was pleased when he found out about the work of the two officers and said he loves to hear good stories about these guys.

“For them to bring comfort to the mom and dad, that’s huge, that’s a huge part of the success,” Carignan said. “It’s a funny story for them to tell for the next 20 years, too.”

Fisher is in his fourth year with the Nashua Police Department, but began his career with a different agency in Lebanon, where he worked for 2.5 years. Turcotte has been with the Nashua Police Department since December 2014, and previously served in Security Forces in the United States Air Force for about seven years. Turcotte said he then did a stint of about three years in the National Guard.

Aside from helping deliver a child, Fisher also helped close a case involving graffiti within the same couple days. Fisher, Colangelo, Braley, and D’Apice all put together a case with diligent documentation of the graffiti. Using video surveillance footage, officers were able to capture the suspect committing the crime. Fisher said D’Apice did a great job locating the suspect and arresting him that night. Fisher said none of this would have been able to get done without working together and looking at the facts and circumstances of the case. While officers more often than not respond to calls involving crime and other negative behavior, Fisher was able to successfully assist with both situations.

Those interested in applying to become a police officer with NPD can find information on how to take those first steps on their website, http://www.nashuapd.com/.

Adam Urquhart may be contacted at 594-1206, or at aurquhart@nashuatelegraph.com.