A beautiful baby girl was delivered to a very scared, young, and in pain mother. Upon realizing that this mom-to-be was too far along in the delivery process to transfer her out, the Team set about getting ready to deliver an infant. The efforts were led by Dr. Bahar Miah and APRN Erin Rinderle Garza. It was a buzz of activity, with many hands working, but to say that this ED Team demonstrated professional, skilled, and caring behaviors is an understatement of what I witnessed.

This whole team not only took care of Mom and Baby but supported the family and each other throughout the whole process. While it seemed like forever, the delivery took less than 50 minutes. This was not an easy delivery for Mom or the Team. The Team, with varying experience, both in acuity and years, collaborated, shared their knowledge with each other, had a common goal, and showed respect for the seriousness and gravity of the situation. Throughout it all, they kept a calm demeanor, were very professional and any concerns that they had were communicated to each other in such a manner as to not alarm Mom or her family. While there was a heavy presence in the room, the remaining members of the Team worked to take care of the other patients. As the Charge RN Joi Bass, stated,” The “boys” Stephen, Joe, Randy, and Chris took over the entire rest of the ER, ensuring all patients were safely cared for during this extremely stressful time for everyone.” “The girls” were Kayla Dejesus, Susan Santos, April Medley, Mary Billiot and her Orientee Holly Martinez, Haley Arnold, Tanya Gardner, Achebe Stanley Johnson and Nancy Green. While Joi was not in the room, she was arranging the transfer and transport. They say, “No Man is an Island” and “that Teamwork makes the dream work”. While this team certainly proved that, I am also very grateful for the help from Winter Haven Women’s AOD Michelle Lloyd, who put our RN in touch with her NICU RN Angela Woelk. Angela helped walk Bartow’s RNs through some of the care of this very tiny and fragile baby girl.

The Team was exhausted but elated and should be very, very proud of themselves. I sure am. I can’t stop bragging!