EMS crew praised for emergency delivery, community raises concerns

ELK COUNTY (WTAJ) – Missy Lecker and her crew did what most EMS workers don’t expect to do and delivered a baby. But for her, this wasn’t her first time in this situation.

“It’s nerve-wracking because you never know anything could happen so every patient Is different and now you have two patients to deal with,” Lecker said.

This is the 2nd time in a year that a mother in labor was unable to make it to the hospital. This time Lecker and her crew were transporting to Penn Highlands DuBois when they had to pull over to complete the delivery process.

Since the closing of the Penn Highland Elk Maternity Ward, which was the only one in the county, it has made it very difficult for women to make it to the hospital in time.

Something that members of the community want to see fixed.

“The solution is they restore labor and delivery to Penn Highlands Elk. It is that transparent and obvious that they are able to do that. They have chosen to invest in communities that are outside of their core service area by constructing new facilities in Centre County by purchasing facilities outside of Pittsburgh instead of investing in the communities that have been with them for more than a decade,” Seth Higgins, of the Elk County HealthCare Coalition, said.

The Elk County HealthCare Coalition also says that this situation is going to keep getting worse as the temperature starts to drop.

“For some of these women, transportation times are going to be at least an hour. And as we approach winter with bad roads, this is going to become even more of a prevalent issue,” Higgins said.

Although the situation wasn’t ideal for Lecker and her crew, she says that she is confident that they’ll be able to help if the situation were to ever happen again.

“I feel a little more comfortable with it. But you know they are few and far between and hopefully we don’t have to do it again but if we do then I feel comfortable on what to do,” Lecker

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The Ridgway Ambulance Corporation did state in a post that the mother and newborn were in great care and in great health. They also added that Lecker has now been nicknamed, “Midwife Missy.”

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