Generous donations from the Brooks and Joan Fortune Family Foundation and Sylvamo came just in time, making it possible for a newborn to be safely transported to the Elizabethtown Community Hospital’s Emergency Department in Ticonderoga. The donations, each $10,000, funded the purchase of two Baby Pods, cutting-edge infant transport devices used shortly after their purchase. “We are grateful to the Brooks and Joan Fortune Family Foundation and Sylvamo for their generous -- and timely -- gifts,” says Elizabethtown Community Hospital president Bob Ortmyer. “We’ve already seen firsthand how this equipment will clearly make a difference in the lives of the patients and families we serve.”

The new equipment helps ensure infants can be transported in an environment that is warm, safe and secure. The design is similar to an incubator and allows ambulance crews to see infants and manage medication and ventilation as necessary.

According to Elizabethtown Community Hospital Ticonderoga Emergency Department Nurse Manager Tracy Sprague, “more and more people travel for routine obstetric care and delivery which means we will see unplanned deliveries become more and more common.”

The equipment, says Sprague, “is a tremendous benefit to infants and families in our region who find themselves in need of emergency transfer to the NICU at the UVM Children’s Hospital or for routine post-delivery care to Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital or Porter Medical Center.”

Students of the hospital’s paramedic education program will also benefit as access to the Baby Pods will provide future paramedics with a unique opportunity to become familiar with the equipment.