BY ALISON GENDAR, TINA MOORE, SIMONE WEICHSELBAUM AND LARRY MCSHANE, NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
A blizzard baby delivered inside the lobby of a snowbound Brooklyn building died after an emergency call of a woman in labor brought no help for nine excruciating hours.
The baby’s mother, a 22-year-old college senior, was recovering Tuesday night at Interfaith Medical Center, where her newborn was pronounced dead at 6:34 p.m. on Monday.
That was 10 hours after the first 911 call from the bloody vestibule on Brooklyn Avenue in Crown Heights.
“No one could get to her. Crown Heights was not plowed, and no medical aid came for hours,” said the student’s mother.
By the time a horde of firefighters and cops finally trooped to her aid through snow-covered blocks, the baby was unconscious and unresponsive, sources said.
Details of the tragedy emerged as the abominable snowstorm continued to wreak havoc across a city still digging out from the wintry blast.
Still, nothing approached the tragedy of the newborn on the busiest day for 911 calls since Sept. 11, 2001.
The pregnant woman was walking from her home to the nearby hospital in the still-swirling snow when she ducked into the building lobby, unable to make it any farther.
The young woman had not told her family she was pregnant – she didn’t want to disappoint relatives – or that she and her college boyfriend had decided to put the child up for adoption.
An 8:30 a.m. 911 call was made, with the caller saying the birth wasn’t imminent, a Fire Department source told the Daily News. The call received a low priority, and the city unsuccessfully tried twice to contact the caller during the next few hours, the source said. A second, more urgent 911 call at 4:30 p.m. reported the woman was bleeding and the baby was crowning – and the call was upgraded to level two, the source said.
An hour later, the NYPD contacted the FDNY/EMS to report the baby had been delivered but was unconscious. Cops cut the umbilical cord and tried to revive the newborn, police source said.
The call was then upgraded to level one – highest priority – and an FDNY crew arrived in 12 minutes, sources said. EMTs were on the scene at 6 p.m.
“The mayor was spouting nonsense to say Crown Heights was plowed. It wasn’t,” the woman’s mother said. “No one could get to her … any other day she would have gotten to a hospital.”
The city medical examiner will do an autopsy today on the baby.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/12/29/2010-12-29_help_arrives_too_late_to_save_baby.html#ixzz19WNXd6oA
we want moshiach now
such terable news we need to get out of this golus
Why wasnt the city organized and streets plowed? It shouldnt be chaotic!!
What was wrong with those people who were calling 911? Why was the woman still in the vestibule where it is cold and has no amenities to help her? She and the baby could have been inside somewhere with covers and warm water, etc. Secondly, was any of those people around her really trying to help her? Lots of people deliver and care for emergency births while on the telephone with a professional to talk them through the whole thing. It’s very likely the baby wouldn’t have died if someone had cared enough to do those simple things. I am… Read more »
WHAT AN AWFUL TRAGEDY!
IM NOT SURE WHATS WORSE THE DEATH OR THE ADOPTION!
BOO MEDICAL SERVICE!
YOU EMBARRAS THE MEDICAL SERVICES AROUND THE WORLD!
Why was CH not plowed? Where was Zaki and our other leaders? Why have we no influence with City hall? And it was the same under Chanina. At the blackout a few years ago, we were one of the last neightourhoods to get the power back on.
I left NY over 35 years ago. NY, especially the boroughs, have never been prepared to handle blizzard-like snow. So what’s new, and who determines the city’s priorities??
A young woman was pregnant, did not want to keep the baby, but instead of going to an abortion clinic she made the choice to give the baby to a childless couple. And you find something to complain about?
she was made aware of what happened during or following the emergency which is when she gave he report to the media. duh. what’s the contradiction you’re inventing?
The workers at the Department of Sanitation have the most reason to be furious. They were stuck in the snow all over Brooklyn, freezing. They couldn’t move to clear the snow and couldn’t abandon their vehicles.
This article contains contradictory statements, apparently the 22 year old’s mother was aware of her daughter’s pregnancy. 3 quotes from the article:
1)” “No one could get to her. Crown Heights was not plowed, and no medical aid came for hours,” said the student’s mother. ”
2) “The mayor was spouting nonsense to say Crown Heights was plowed. It wasn’t,” the woman’s mother said. “No one could get to her … any other day she would have gotten to a hospital.”
3)”The young woman had not told her family she was pregnant”
so sad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ref.#2 regardless it still took 9hrs
so much for no money to plow, now he will be spending ten times the amount on law suits…lmao
it was just a matter of time till the mayors terrible decision became fatal.. there’s a reason why every other civilized place plows from the beginning inches of a snow fall, so that emergency vehicles can get around.
Either you are very young, in which case you’ll understand when you get older. Or you’re being naive/narrow-minded. Think a little more broadly, it’s a big world out there!
That is just shameful. Somebody has blood on their hands now. Either the mayor or the sanitation department. I hope she sues the city for all its worth although nothing can make up for her loss.
like everything else in this world, at first everyone gets angry and says they are going to scream and yell and complain and then everything quiets down and people forget! i think if we dont make a real big tumult about what bloomberg haS DONE WE ARE HUGE SUCKERS! ANY IDEAS WHAT CAN BE DONE?
Very nice of the lady to help the driver(s)…not so nice, the government’s response.
so sad.
She didn’t tell her family she was pregnant? She was fixing to give the baby up for adoption and then the baby dies?
Something smells really foul here.
BLOOMBERG! YOU ARE FIRED!!! BAD MAYOR!!!