Program connects neonatologists with first responders for emergencies involving newborns

Emergency medical technicians and paramedics are trained to handle just about any situation in the field. But calls involving births outside of the hospital can be challenging for even the most experienced first responders.

That’s because they don’t encounter these calls often. Of the approximately 300 babies born outside hospitals each year in Connecticut, around 10 percent will need resuscitation.

The 24/7 BABY program helps first responders and improves outcomes for these babies, said its founder, Brooke Redmond, MD, a Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital neonatologist, assistant professor of pediatrics at Yale School of Medicine and medical director of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and chair of Pediatrics at Waterbury Hospital.

First responders in the field can call a 24/7 BABY dedicated phone number or scan a QR code to connect with a Yale Medicine neonatologist 24 hours a day, seven days a week. By phone or video, the neonatologist can guide first responders through situations such as emergency births and neonatal resuscitation.

The program, which launched April 1 in Waterbury, is the first of its kind in Connecticut, and is already being expanded throughout the state.