My Most Memorable Day
What’s predictable about working in the emergency department is that it’s always unpredictable.
“We’re ready for anything and anyone who comes through our doors,” says Laurie McLaughlin, a registered nurse with Grand View Hospital.
One crisp fall day, Laurie faced an emergency she had never encountered in her eight-year career at Grand View. A registrar said a laboring mom at the emergency department entrance needed help.
Managing “close calls” isn’t unusual for a hospital that’s been delivering babies for over a hundred years. Even the most impatient infants typically “stay put” for the quick wheelchair transport to labor and delivery.
As the maternity unit was notified, Laurie grabbed a wheelchair and went to the emergency entrance. “A man standing next to an open car door looked up and said, ‘I see the head.’ I grabbed the bassinette and blankets we keep by the door for Operation Safe Haven.”
Laurie leaned into the car. “All I could think was ‘please be pink and crying.’” Seconds later, the infant, still attached to mom, was safely cuddled against Laurie’s uniform for protection from the cold. Both were quickly surrounded by surprised colleagues who helped the baby’s father cut the cord and move everyone inside. “It was my first delivery. I will never forget it,” she gushes.
While most deliveries at Grand View aren’t quite this unforgettable, each and every one is memorable in its own special way. Talk to moms in our community and most will share how happy they are to stay close to home and enjoy the added peace of mind that comes with delivering where there’s also a Level ll NICU staffed by a team from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. And as babies become kids, our partnership to provide the best care possible continues with our CHOP pediatric unit.
Anticipating and preparing for what comes next is what we do. With your support of the This Is Us Together campaign, we will ensure that everyone in our community can get the best care locally, so we can live our best lives. Sometimes even from the moment we’re born.