EMT pair deliver baby in Valley Stream ambulance

A pair of Valley Stream emergency medical technicians did not expect that they would be delivering a baby when they woke up on March 12. But that afternoon, with the ambulance en route to the hospital, they did just that.

Tracey Calhoun and Mike Field were assigned to the funeral of former fire chief William Howley Jr. that afternoon, standing by in one of the department’s two ambulances. At 2:10 p.m., they received a call for a woman in labor at a home in Gibson. Before they even left the parking lot, they were told they woman was waiting in front of the fire department’s headquarters on Rockaway Avenue.

Calhoun and Field arrived at the firehouse a few minutes later and the soon-to-be mother was in labor in the back of a sport utility vehicle. They moved her into the ambulance and headed off to Mercy Hospital. First Assistant Chief John Beck, who met them at the firehouse, drove the ambulance so Field could assist Calhoun with the patient in the back.

Shortly after getting the woman into the ambulance, Calhoun said it became apparent that she and Field would be delivering a baby. “The head appeared,” Field said, “and as we pulled into Mercy hospital, we delivered the baby, right in the ambulance bay. She pushed out a healthy baby boy.”

Hospital staff met the ambulance as Field and Calhoun were cutting the umbilical cord, and they took the mother and baby inside. Calhoun said the woman thanked her and Field for their help.

For both, delivering a baby was nothing new. Calhoun had done it once before in her job as a New York City EMT. This was the 38th baby Field has helped deliver, as he is retired from the Fire Department of New York. However, this was his first delivery in Valley Stream. Fire officials also say they believe this is the first time a baby has ever been delivered in a Valley Stream Fire Department ambulance.

Calhoun said that EMTs are taught how to delivery a baby, as it is part of their training. She noted that there is a pregnant female dummy that they use to practice, which simulates several scenarios including if a baby is not breathing when he or she comes out, or if the umbilical cord is wrapped around the neck.

For the most part, Field said, when delivering a baby, the mother does most of the work.

The ambulance arrived at Mercy Hospital within 10 minutes of the initial call to the fire department. The 1998 ambulance has an obstetrics (OB) kit on board which includes a scalpel, clamps, scissors, blankets, syringes and sterile gloves.

Calhoun, a South High School graduate, has been a member of the Valley Stream Fire Department’s rescue company for the past five years. Field has been in the department for 24 years and is a past lieutenant and captain and current warden of Rescue Company No. 1, which includes the heavy rescue truck and two ambulances, all stationed at the Rockaway Parkway firehouse.

Field said that this ambulance call was much more positive than some of the other calls the department gets. “It’s always good to bring in a life,” he said, “than to lose a life.”