Crews clear emergency path on closed highway during snowstorm for woman in labor

TETONIA — A closed highway and a severe snowstorm didn’t stop county emergency crews from helping a 30-year-old woman in labor get to the hospital.

On Tuesday at around 11 p.m., Teton County Dispatcher Jessica Sosa got a call from a man living in the rural Tetonia area.

“The caller advised me that his wife was 39 weeks pregnant and she has had a history of fast labor. They were snowed in on a county road off of Highway 33,” Sosa told EastIdahoNews.com. “Then, of course, 33 was closed due to the road conditions and the weather.”

Idaho Highway 33 is notoriously known for shutting down in the winter due to blowing and drifting snow.

Sosa dispatched search and rescue crews and then contacted Madison County dispatchers to assist in getting an ambulance. She said the husband and wife were trying to get to Madison Memorial Hospital in Rexburg to have the baby.

The names of the husband and wife have not been released.

Multiple agencies from Teton County and Madison County worked to get aid to the stranded couple. A Facebook post from Teton County Idaho Search and Rescue says the Idaho Transporation Department was called out to “punch a path from Tetonia to Newdale” to allow an ambulance from Madison County to get to the patient.

ITD spokeswoman Brenda Elordi said their plow driver Ray McMinn, assisted search and rescue crews in reaching the woman in labor.

“He cleared a path for emergency crews to be able to get in and out safely,” Elordi said in an email to EastIdahoNews.com.

The husband tried to make it easier for crews.

“The husband actually snowmobiled the woman that was in labor out to a residence off of Highway 33 to wait for first responders,” Sosa said.

A Madison Fire Department ambulance came to take the woman to the hospital.

“I do know that things went well. We were able to get mom in our ambulance and get her safely to Madison. There weren’t any complications on the way and she arrived safely,” said Troyce Miskin, deputy chief with the Madison Fire Department.

Search and rescue crews wrapped up the call just before 2 a.m.

The last Sosa heard was the woman was fine. She is not sure how her labor progressed or the status of her birth.

“It’s often that we don’t hear outcomes of calls. So we are usually just left with a cliffhanger,” she said.

It was a team effort with everyone involved and Sosa was happy to assist.

“Calls like this are really the reason why I do what I do and why I enjoy it. They stick with us. They are the ones that really make a difference,” she said.