This article was first published on NITV in Australia.
On Monday 9 March, 25-year-old Anastasia made a triple zero call: she was in the early stages of labour while 34 weeks pregnant, six weeks early.
St John paramedics managed to reach her after driving through floodwaters, but paramedics Emily Griffiths and Lachlan Mikic realised the situation was rapidly progressing.
“There was no way for more resources to get to us, and Anastasia was getting very close to giving birth,” said Griffiths.
Anastasia, her two-year-old girl and partner Casius were loaded into a Troop Carrier ambulance and made their way to a temporary Emergency Department at the Katherine ambulance station, 300 kilometres south of Darwin.
Katherine’s local hospital had been evacuated, closed and cut off by floodwater.
“I looked down and saw the baby was already crowning. Even though it wasn’t ideal, we had to be ready for the possibility of this baby being born in the back of the troopy,” Mikic said.
With sirens on and lights flashing, the crew arrived at the station after 9pm where they were met by the emergency department team and prepared to birth the baby.
Five minutes later, baby Venice was born.
After health staff stabilised Venice and checked over Anastasia, the pair were driven through floodwaters again to the airport and transported by CareFlight to Royal Darwin Hospital.
Anastasia’s partner and her two-year-old weren’t able to join the flight due to limited capacity, but have since made it to Darwin to be with her.
St John NT CEO Abigail Trewin said the birth highlights the efforts of emergency responders and healthcare staff as floodwaters continue to impact the Northern Territory.
“The cooperation between St John NT ambulance staff and volunteers, NT Health staff, CareFlight, and Territory Police in Katherine during this disaster has been phenomenal,” Trewin said.
“We’re working like one well-oiled machine to ensure the community continues to receive care during this challenging time.”
The temporary Emergency Department in Katherine provided care for over 100 patients while the town endured its worst flooding in 28 years.
The Northern Territory’s Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro travelled to Canberra on Monday amidst the ongoing disaster to ask the federal government for more help funding recovery arrangements.
“Once we move to recovery phase we know that disaster relief funding [and a] 50-50 spend by the Territory and federal governments, is going to be important, but it won’t be enough,” Finocchiaro said in Canberra.
50 Australian Defence Force personnel were deployed to assist the recovery in Katherine on Monday.
The NT government says the ADF will help for the next 10 to 14 days, depending on what is required in the clean-up process.
The area has transitioned to an official recovery phase, with Katherine District Hospital now operational, schools reopened and only a handful of properties without power.
Nauiyu/Daly River, Palumpa and Jilmkinggan are still in the ‘response’ flood phase, with residents in those communities being cared for in evacuation centres in Darwin and Mataranka.
Nauiyu/Daly River remain under emergency evacuation orders as floodwaters reached the highest on record. On Sunday, the river at Daly River peaked at 16.42 metres, and is expected to remain at the major flood level this week.
NT Police say it may be another week before they can start assessing buildings in the Daly River area.
“It’s fair to say that community is completely inundated with water levels up to roof lines of houses,” said Incident Controller Shaun Gill.
“With regards to Palumpa community, it’s the same situation, we’ve done some initial assessments and there is still water through the community.”
Meanwhile, both Anastasia and Venice are doing well and expected to return to Katherine soon.
By Josh van Staden of NITV.
