Councillor-elect Natalie Harris reached back into her paramedic training in Barrie today to help a pregnant woman who had gone into labour on the bus while heading to Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre.
Harris, a retired advanced care paramedic and mother of two, has been riding Barrie buses this week to get a firm grasp of how the city's transit system works. On Friday morning, she was able to put her medical training back into action.
“She didn’t actually have the baby on the bus, but it was hilarious because it was super-crowded,” Harris told BarrieToday on Friday, adding the woman was sitting at the front of the bus with her partner early this morning.
“All I could hear was a commotion and that she was having contractions and that she was in labour," Harris added. "So I thought, ‘Oh dear, it’s a good thing they’re headed to RVH'."
Another person on the bus was helping the pregnant woman, but Harris let them know she was a trained paramedic and helped her into the hospital.
“She said her contractions were a little far apart, but she was definitely in distress,” Harris said. “I offered to get her a wheelchair and walked with her to the front of emerg. She insisted on walking, which is actually good sometimes.”
It’s unclear when the woman delivered her baby, but she told Harris she was having a girl.
Harris said there's a bell that chimes over RVH's public-address system when a baby is born, but she didn’t hear one ring while she was there.
“I could tell she wasn’t ready to have the baby at that moment, because I have delivered babies in the past as a paramedic,” she said with a laugh. “Walking can be a good thing to get it going. They were really comfortable on finding their way to the labour and delivery department. She was 33 weeks gestation, so I just asked her some questions and kept her company.”
Harris, who will be sworn in as the new Ward 6 councillor in early December, told the woman she was riding the bus as research for her upcoming council term.
“She just laughed through her contractions,” Harris said.
Harris has been using public transit all week to travel to appointments as she gets up to speed on council matters, as well as meeting up with friends and fellow councillors around the city.
“I really wanted to see how practical it was, because my meetings are at certain times and I needed to get there,” said Harris, adding 'Plan A Trip' on the city's website has been very useful. “It will outline my route and when I need to be at the stops. I really loved that and it helped me a lot.”
On Friday morning, she was heading to RVH to speak to hospital foundation officials to learn more about how municipal, provincial and federal levels of government can work together.
“I’ve taken it to every single appointment I’ve had, in all different directions, all over Barrie and at different times of day,” Harris said. “I have a pretty good idea of the transit system, because I really knew nothing on Monday.”
Harris has learned some simple lessons, like making sure she has cash, “because there’s no tap system that will let you pay for your pass.”
She also learned the hard way about the numbered routes and the platforms, “so I missed two buses in one day on one of my excursions, because I didn’t find it very easy to navigate.”
Generally speaking, though, Harris said it closely resembles the subway systems of larger cities where all of the stops are announced.
“The technology is a lot better than 20 years ago when I took the bus when I was in my 20s,” said the 41-year-old incoming city councillor, who’s also well known as a mental-health advocate and her struggles with post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) after many years as a front-line paramedic.
Her next step will be to cobble together everything she has heard.
“My plan is to compile everyone’s suggestions and also the things that they love. It’s not all bad; there is some good stuff as well," said Harris, who has also been receiving a lot of feedback on social media.
Riding the bus has also given her a chance to speak to people who use public transit regularly, as well as the bus drivers, whom she said have been eager to assist.
“People are just kind,” Harris said, adding some riders have told her there are gaps in their routes. “They can find it really difficult to navigate.
“Today was the most interaction I’ve had with someone on the bus, to be honest,” Harris said.
That’s an understatement.
“It’s been an interesting journey, that’s for sure.”
