Efforts of Monongahela Police, EMTs save newborn baby
These people were honored at the Oct. 13 meeting of Monongahela Council for their actions in saving the life of a newborn baby. They are, from left, EMT Tiffany Delmar, Officer Renjienico Manday, Officer Jeff Toth, Officer Dana Harris and EMT Lauren Holt.
Officers honored by Monongahela City Council for their actions in saving the life of a newborn baby are, from left, Renjienico Manday, Jeff Toth and Dana Harris.
MONONGAHELA – The quick response of members of the Monongahela Police Department and Tri-Community Ambulance resulted in saving the life of a newborn baby.
For their heroism, officers Jeff Toth, Dana Harris and Renjienico Manday, as well as EMTs Lauren Holt and Tiffany Demar, were honored at the Oct. 13 meeting of Monongahela City Council.
They were honored for actions they performed on July 2. Shortly after 5:30 p.m. that day, the officers were tending to a traffic stop when they got the call that a just-born baby at 618 Hancock St. was not breathing or making any noise. The officers arrived at the home in mere minutes.
“When we got the call, knowing the severity of the call, we immediately jumped in the car and headed straight to the residence,” Toth recalled. “EMS wasn’t there yet. The baby wasn’t breathing, so I immediately started CPR. I heard the baby make a little small noise. Once we heard that little noise it gave us some sort of positive feeling.”
Once the umbilical cord was cut and the baby had a pulse, the decision was made to fly the baby via helicopter to Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. A landing zone was set up at Mounds Park.
“We helped out with that,” Toth said. “We gave the baby an escort up the hill to the ball field. We didn’t know what was going to happen. We were still kind of up in the air.”
The baby, young Adalin Perera, celebrated her 4-month birthday on Nov. 2.
“She is great, amazing. She’s beautiful,” said Samantha Holmes, the baby’s mother, who said the birth was planned to take place at the home and involved a midwife. “She’s growing like a weed.”
Since her adventurous birth, baby Adalin has dealt with some health issues.
Holmes said Adalin was at Children’s Hospital until July 29, then went to the Children’s Home of Pittsburgh and Lemieux Family Center where her parents were instructed in how to feed and care for Adalin. Holmes said Adalin needs a gastrostomy tube to aid in her feeding.
“We’re hoping within the year,” Holmes said about the possibility of Adalin being able to be fed with a bottle. “She has come so far with her sucking ability. She is getting great neck control, great head control.”
Adalin is dealing with a brain dysfunction called hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy and is at risk for seizures and perhaps eventually cerebral palsy.
“Besides that, she has been developing semi-normally,” Holmes said. “She’s always going to have development issues. We’re trying to reduce the development issues she could probably face in the future.”
Lifetime bonds have been established. Adalin has been taken to the police department for a visit, while officers have been to the house bearing gifts.
“She’s got quite the following,” Holmes said of Adalin, for whom she’s set up a Facebook page. “They’re always asking me how she is. I plan on taking her (to the police station) occasionally.”
Harris, who just joined the force in December, said this was a different call than any others to which she has responded.
“It’s a call you never want to get, but I’m glad the baby is OK,” Harris said, adding she and Holmes are now friends on Facebook. “On the way to the call, so many scenarios are running through your head. You don’t know what the outcome is going to be. I’m glad it was a positive outcome. We’re still having contact with the baby. That’s nice, because it’s something that you helped with.”
“We told her parents, you always have some friends in the police department,” Toth added. “They said we can always come up to their house.”
To be recognized for their work meant a lot to the officers.
“It was a really good thing to be acknowledged,” Harris said. “The baby is on my mind every day. We call her, ‘The Hancock Baby.’ The three of us work very well together. It was great teamwork.”
Most importantly, the officers are grateful they were able to save young Adalin’s life.
“It felt amazing,” Toth said. “I can say I believe that the baby is still alive because me and my two other partners were on shift together. We had a good shift together that day. It felt amazing to know one life was stopped at one point in time and we were able to bring that life back. Hopefully, she grows and continues her life. Anytime you’re able to bring one back, it feels good.”
“They did a tremendous job,” said Greg Garry, mayor of Monongahela. “Anytime that our emergency people do something good they should be recognized. Saving a baby, you can’t get much better than that. That was a very important thing for us to recognize.”
Those sentiments were echoed by Ramona Bright, Tri-Community Ambulance executive director.
“It’s just a happy day when we can do something that great,” Bright said. “With everything that’s been going on, it’s just a breath of fresh air to do that. It was the thing to do to tell (our EMTs) how proud we are of them. They worked together. It was just a great day that they could do something to save a life.”
Holmes is extremely grateful to have her first-born child.
“They saved my daughter,” she said. “I always have respect for police officers and paramedics. They went above and beyond and brought my daughter back to me. She’s with us because of them. I’m just forever grateful. They’re our heroes.”
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect the correct last name of Adalin Perera.