“Meet and Greet” Event Reunites Patient with Responders and Dispatcher

Chris and Lacey Ray of Lynchburg, Tennessee were reunited with a medic team from Rutherford County Emergency Medical Services (RCEMS) and a Rutherford County Dispatcher this week just a month after the team delivered their baby boy in the back of an ambulance.

Lacey was en route to Centennial Medical Center on the interstate when her contractions began to get closer together. Her husband Chris called 9-1-1 and explained the situation. Medics were dispatched to the scene and when they arrived, Lacey was beginning to feel the baby’s head.

With Lacey’s being a high-risk pregnancy, medics suggested a closer hospital as a safer option. The family agreed. Paramedic Brandon Smith, working with Rutherford County Fire & Rescue that day, jumped into the back of the ambulance to assist with patient care on the way to the hospital.

The team was pulling into Stone Crest Medical Center when Lacey’s baby boy was delivered…in the back of the ambulance! Stone Crest emergency room doctors were ready and immediately began to care for the baby and Lacey. Both were later transferred to Centennial Pediatric for further care and are doing just fine now.

The couple, who works for Jack Daniels Distillery, wanted to be reunited with the first responders and dispatcher that assisted them with the healthy delivery of their bundle of joy, so the distillery and Moore County Emergency Medical Services (MCEMS) coordinated with RCEMS to host the event.

“RCEMS was given a warm welcome and the family was excited to meet the team,” said Paramedic Brent Carter. “Only this time in a more calm and relaxed atmosphere,” he teased. MCEMS, who was pleased with the level of compassion and professionalism the Rays received from the Rutherford County employees, partnered with Jack Daniels to provide lunch at Mrs. Mary Bobo’s in Lynchburg. The team comprised of Paramedics Chris Reed and Brandon Smith and Advanced Emergency Medical Technician Meg Shirley and Dispatcher Suzie Cunningham also received gift baskets as a token of gratitude.

“This is no different than any other day on the job,” said Carter, “but it’s nice to visually see the difference you have made in the lives of others through these types of events.”