Warren County EMS providers successfully complete first labor and delivery call

Shortly after 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, April 6, Warren County Fire and Rescue responded to a labor and delivery call involving a twenty-three-year-old female who was thirty-five weeks into her pregnancy. According to a report on WCFR’s Facebook page, the baby was crowning upon the arrival of EMS. After EMS medic crews from Front Royal and Rivermont performed childbirth assessment and treatment, EMS delivered a baby girl without incident. The mother and child were treated and transported to Winchester Medical Center successfully.

(L/R: Firefighter Kennedy, Firefighter Kresge, Firefighter Bryson, AC Maiatico, Firefighter Horne, Firefighter Hunt, Lieutenant Oliver)

“We have seen an increase in women’s care calls,” explained Assistant Fire Chief Gerry Maiatico. Because Warren Memorial Hospital has closed its maternity ward, Maiatico said, “We no longer have that service in our backyard per se.” The closure of Warren Memorial’s maternity ward is part of a national crisis as maternity wards across America close, forcing expectant mothers to travel farther distances for women’s care. But Warren County Fire and Rescue is prepared to meet this need locally. Its EMS providers receive two hundred and fifty entry-level hours of training to respond to crises of this nature.

To perform at our best in response to those at their worst: that is the motto of WCFR. “This was their first field birth outside of the hospital setting,” explained Maiatico in reference to the EMS team that responded on Thursday morning. “We are constantly looking for people to enter our fire and EMS provider,” he continued. In order to be an EMS provider, a person must be ready to make sacrifices. It means time away from family, and if the provider is still in high school, it means possibly missing out on high school activities.

“We certainly are proud of them,” Maiatico said.