Firefighters Save Newborn Who Wasn’t Breathing in Las Vegas Flood Tunnel

A newborn baby who entered the world inside a Las Vegas flood control tunnel is alive and healthy today after firefighters rushed underground and turned a frightening emergency into a rescue story full of relief and gratitude.

On June 17, crews with Las Vegas Fire and Rescue responded to reports of a woman in labor inside one of the city’s flood control channels. When firefighter paramedic Eric Paul reached the scene, he was immediately handed a newborn who wasn’t breathing.

“A bystander said, ‘Help him,’” Paul recalled. “The cord was still attached. The placenta was still attached. He wasn’t responding initially.”

Working in the difficult conditions of the tunnel, Paul quickly cleared the baby’s airway, stimulated him, and clamped the umbilical cord so he could better assess the infant. It was the kind of urgent, hands-on work that first responders train for, but never take lightly.

It was also not the first time Paul had delivered a baby in an emergency. “I delivered my oldest two, actually, and I think on the streets probably six or seven over the years,” he said.

Then came the moment everyone was hoping for. “The baby came around, and he was actually very, very healthy,” Paul said. “This went about as well as you could ever hope for.”

A dangerous place, and a reminder of why rescue teams matter

The baby’s mother was able to make her way out of the tunnel after the birth and was taken to a local hospital alongside her newborn. Officials say both are expected to make a full recovery.

Assistant Chief of Suppression Ken Kreutzer said the rescue also highlights a difficult reality in Southern Nevada, where many unhoused people seek shelter inside flood control tunnels despite the serious dangers they pose.

Flash floods can develop with little warning, and the tunnels bring other hazards as well. Over the past year alone, Las Vegas Fire and Rescue has responded to hundreds of fires in the tunnel system.

“I understand why they do it. It’s much cooler down there. It’s a shelter from the sun and the elements,” Paul said. “But it’s extraordinarily dangerous, not only for them, but for those of us that go down when things do get out of hand to rescue them.”

For one tiny newborn, though, a terrifying beginning ended with a remarkable rescue and a healthy future thanks to firefighters who arrived exactly when they were needed most.