By Chuck Biedka
The Tribune-Review
VANDERGRIFT, Pa. — Jessica Schmiedel was worried.
Her husband Derek’s car had just broken down as he was rushing to their home in Vandergrift, and she was about to have her second baby — in a house she had moved into only two days before.
Time was running out when she called Westmoreland County 911 just before 11 a.m. Thursday.
“I told them about my husband. Then my water started to break, and I called 911 back again.”
An ambulance and police were dispatched to the house in the 200 block of Hancock Boulevard. The expectant mother was two days past her due date.
Borough Officer Joe Gray, a father of two, was the first to arrive. He soon learned traffic was delaying paramedics.
“They had a 5- to 10-minute (estimated time of arrival) and I thought, ‘Oh, boy,’'' said Gray, whose wife, Leslee, is a nurse.
“Unfortunately, the front door was locked and she couldn’t get up, so I broke it in,” said Gray. “She was on the bed when I arrived. Her contractions were less than two minutes apart, and then they got sporadic.
“I tried to keep her calm. I asked 911 to expedite the ambulance and I learned the paramedics were coming from Apollo and were caught at the train crossing.”
Then things started to happen — quickly.
“I looked down and the baby’s head started to come out,” Gray said. “Just then the paramedic walked in.”
Paramedics Jack Edmundson of Saltsburg and Marie Roney of Apollo took over.
Soon after, Nakiera Schmiedel “‘pinked up’ and cried,” said Edmundson, a paramedic for 22 years and director of the ambulance service for Vandergrift and Oklahoma boroughs.
“She had a nice set of lungs,” said Gray with a grin.
Unknown to Jessica Schmiedel, the 911 dispatch center had arranged for even more help.
Washington Township police Officer Jason Frances picked up Schmiedel’s husband and stepped on the gas.
Derek Schmiedel arrived about 10 minutes after his newborn daughter did.
Jessica Schmiedel and her daughter were taken to Excela Health Westmoreland Hospital in Greensburg. Nakiera Schmiedel weighs 6 pounds 12 ounces and is 20 1/2 inches long.
“She has a headful of dark brown hair,” Jessica Schmiedel laughed.
Edmundson praised Jessica Schmiedel.
“She did a good job — a great job,” he said. “This gives you a good feeling. Childbirth is still an amazing aspect of life.”
“The paramedics and the mother did it all,” Gray said. “And the mother gets all the credit.”
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