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Off-duty Minn. EMT delivers baby in traffic jam

Deb Ristau offered help when she saw police car’s emergency lights

The Pioneer Press

ROCHESTER, Minn. — A Rochester woman says she is grateful for the off-duty EMT who helped deliver her baby when she got caught in traffic a few blocks from the hospital.

Nicole Engler told the Rochester Post-Bulletin that last week’s events were “surreal.”

Engler was a week shy of her due date when her contractions began Thursday afternoon. Her husband drove her toward the hospital, but when the baby began to arrive, he pulled over and flagged down a police car.

That’s when emergency medical technician Deb Ristau appeared. She stopped when she saw the squad car’s emergency lights and approached in time to deliver the baby.

The newborn and his mother are in good health.

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