Utica Firefighters Honored For Assisting In Roadside Baby Delivery

Five Utica firefighters are being honored for assisting in the roadside delivery of a healthy baby girl.

City officials said the firefighters and EMTs responded to an emergency call on Route 49 under the Route 12 overpass on April 23rd 2020. The officers were Lt. Richard Stemmer and firefighters Fred Decarlo, Richard Nower, William Mathias and Daniel Priore.

First-responders found a mother on the verge of giving birth in her vehicle, and they assisted in the emergency delivery there on the side of the highway. The firefighters then took the mother, and daughter, to St. Luke’s Hospital in New Hartford.

“The City of Utica expresses its gratitude to the UFD personnel who assisted in the delivery and extend its best wishes to the baby and family,” said Mayor Robert M. Palmieri in a release.

Get our free mobile app

How To Deliver A Baby In An Emergency

UT South Western reports that every year, nearly 9,000 women in the U.S. go into labor and, unable to make it to the hospital. These women may have an unplanned or unattended birth at home, or in the car on the way to the hospital.

They have provided the following tips in a situation where the baby is delivered in a car, or at home:

1) Dry off the baby and place the baby directly on your chest to keep it warm.

2) If the baby doesn’t immediately start to cry, run your fingers along either side of its nose to ease away mucus, and stimulate the baby’s skin as Jenea did by rubbing firmly but gently on its back with a piece of clothing or a dry towel.

3) If you have two strings of any kind handy (a shoelace, thread, or a ribbon, for example), tie one string around the umbilical cord four to five inches away from the baby’s belly. Tie the other further from the baby two to three inches past the first string. Then cut the cord with a scissors or knife between the two ties.

4) Seek medical care as soon as possible after delivery. Home births, whether planned or unplanned, can be risky for mothers and babies during and after delivery.

(Source UT SouthWestern)