[Update] Sheriff: Woman Gives Birth in Car in Southeast

[Update, posted 8:30 p.m. June 7] Officials are praising a 911 dispatcher for her role in the successful delivery of a baby girl, who was born in a car parked along the roadway in Southeast.

"She did a great job by keeping the father as calm as possible while giving instructions to both mom and dad that resulted in a healthy delivery," Deputy Commissioner Lipton said of Robyn Tricinelli, a dispatcher at the Putnam County's 911 Center. 

Tricinelli was on duty Wednesday night when a woman called to report that her son and daughter-in-law were traveling on Interstate 84 in Southeast—on the way to the Putnam Hospital Center in Carmel—because the latter was in labor.

"Dispatcher Tricinelli called the couple’s cell phone and assessed the situation," the Sheriff's Office said in a updated statement, released 6:45 Friday night. "After hearing that the woman was having contractions, and the [sic] her husband seeing the infant’s head, the dispatcher told the father to pull the car over onto the shoulder of roadway. She remained on the telephone with the couple while emergency responders were dispatched to the scene."

Three deputies arrived. Deputy John Kerwick, a New York State Certified Emergency Medical Technician, entered the vehicle. A short time later Brewster Fire Department members and responders from TransCare Paramedics arrived.

"They handed Deputy Kerwick an emergency obstetrics kit which he used to clamp and cut the umbilical cord and suction the child’s nose and mouth," officials said. "He then was given a clean shirt from his patrol car and wrapped the infant in it."

Lipton and Sheriff Donald B. Smith recognized Kerwick and Tricinelli for their "meritorious actions." Smith said it was a team effort.

“We are blessed to have dedicated and well-trained emergency responders who work seamlessly to render emergency services to those in need,” Smith said.  “This is the latest example of all emergency service providers working together making our county a great place to live, work and raise a family."

[Original story, posted 12 p.m. June 7] Members of the Brewster Fire Department and the Putnam County Sheriff's Office responded Wednesday to a car parked on the side of the road in Southeast where a woman was in the final stages of labor, according to officials.

The baby girl, reportedly named Francesca, and her mother are "healthy and resting comfortably," the Sheriff's Office said Friday.

A 911 call reporting a woman in active labor—in a vehicle parked along the side of John Simpson Road and Route 6—came in at about 7:40 Wednesday night, according to authorities. 

"Deputies Edward Kennedy, John Kerwick and Christopher Irwin arrived at the scene to find the woman in the final stages of labor and saw the baby’s head, commonly known as 'crowning,'" a press release from the Sheriff's Office states. "Deputy Kerwick, a certified New York State Emergency Medical Technician, who has prior experience in delivering a child, entered the vehicle and assisted in the delivery of the newborn."

Members of the fire department arrived and assisted Kerwick. Once the baby was delivered, she and the mother were taken by ambulance to Putnam Hospital Center. The father and the big sister, who were also in the vehicle at the time, followed.