Wantagh FD delivers baby on Southern State Parkway

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The Wantagh Fire Department successfully delivered a healthy baby boy on the Southern State Parkway near the Wantagh State Parkway on Feb. 15. The fire dept. responded to a call about a woman in labor at approximately 5:26 p.m., and within minutes, two fire ambulances were at the scene.

EMS Captain and Paramedic Stephen Lincke led a four-person team of Lieutenant Erica Goetz, Lietuenant Samantha Datre and Firefighter Sal Ferro through the baby’s deliverance.

“The husband flagged us down,” Lincke recalled, “the wife was in the front seat of the car in labor, and were driving from out east to go to Winthrop Hospital.”

Once Lincke and his crew arrived at the scene, the mother was already contracting, so they placed her in the fire ambulance, where she delivered her newborn son. The mother said to Lincke that she was 38 weeks pregnant, and that her baby was supposed to be due on March 1.

Both the mother and child were transported to the Nassau University Medical Center, where they were reported to be in good condition.

This was the first time that the fire dept. has delivered a baby since 2016, and the first time that Lincke’s entire crew delivered a baby together.

“It was something new for most of the people on the crew that witnessed a childbirth,” Lincke said. “And for me, it’s nice that finally, from all the other calls that we get and all the other stuff that’s going on around the world, that this is a happy occasion, not a sad occasion, to be a part of an EMS group.”

“I’m still smiling ear to ear thinking about it,” Goetz added, “and it was just such an awesome experience to be a part of.”