Roanoke has recognized seven paramedics for the outstanding service they provided to a mother and her premature child last month. Three of seven Roanoke Fire-EMS Department members were awarded their certificates during a city council meeting Monday.
On July 24, the fire department got a call about a woman who was in labor in the city’s southeast quadrant, Chief David Hoback told council members Monday afternoon.
At that time, there were no city medic units immediately available to help the woman, who paramedics discovered later was delivering her child three months early. But thanks to mutual aid agreements, the chief continued, a ambulance from Roanoke County was able to assist.
“Soon after being deployed, we realized that the baby had been born,” Hoback said. “With being three months premature comes a lot of difficulty associated with management.”
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Once the Roanoke County unit was on the scene, paramedics “got control the situation, took care of the mother, situated the baby with the mother, and did a primary assessment,” Hoback said. Then, one of the city’s advance care paramedics, Lt. Tim Rorrer, arrived to provide additional support.
Rorer and the county medics moved the mother and child into the Roanoke County ambulance, Hoback said, and “found that the small child, which probably fit in the palm of your hand, was not doing as well as it should be.”
The infant was transferred into the care of city medic units, which took the baby to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital for treatment. Hoback said the child still has a long recovery road ahead, but the baby and its mother, which received care from Roanoke County Fire & Rescue Department Firefighter/Paramedics Chad Dailey and Sam Cargill, are doing well.
Roanoke and Roanoke County fire-rescue personnel were recognized by Roanoke Fire-EMS Department Chief David Hoback Friday for the service they provided to a mother and her premature infant last month.
The county department recognized Dailey and Cargill in a social media post Sunday, which read, “It was interdepartmental cooperation that made it possible to have a good outcome for both patients.“
The seven men who provided care to the preemie were Rorrer, Lt. Thomas Boettner, Lt. Adam Fleming, Capt. Brian Wasson, Firefighter/Paramedic Brady Seldomridge, Firefighter/EMT Jacob Bayer and Firefighter/EMT Brendon Majors. Hoback said the neonatal team at CRMH gave them “strong accolades for the stability of that child when they got” to the hospital.
Three Roanoke Fire-EMS Department members, (from left to right) Firefighter/EMT Jacob Bayer, Firefighter/Paramedic Brady Seldomridge and Capt. Brian Wasson, were recognized by city council Monday for the service they provided to a mother and her premature infant last month. Another three paramedics who responded to the incident were not present Monday.
“We deliver babies infrequently in the city, and most of them are full term,” Hoback said. “One of the best things you can do is bring a life into this world. But in this case, they got two rewards. They got to see the life brought into the world, but they also got to see the benefit of what they do day in and day out: save, preserve and enhance the quality of lives of our citizens.”
“This is a prime example of why it’s important for our local governments to work together. We don’t work together in a lot of ways that we should,” Councilman Bev Fitzpatrick said Monday, “but to see what you all do, and what you do in concert with our local governments, is a real source of pride.”
Emma Coleman (540) 981-3198