Irene Delivers Spike in Births, Temporary Room Evacuation at Hospital

Christopher Adrian Carter is only a few days old, but parents Juana Williams and Chris Carter of Medford have already given him a nickname: "Hurricane."

"I thought we were having a prodigy baby with all the natural disasters going on," said Chris Carter, referring to the earthquake earlier this week, the tropical storm, and the tornado warning.

Christopher is one of 21 babies born at Stony Brook University Medical Center over the weekend as Irene – first a hurricane, then a tropical storm – tore through Three Village and surrounding communities. According to Susan Little, nurse manager for obstetrics at the hospital, there was 50 percent spike in the number of babies born this past weekend at SBUMC. She said volume at the department sometimes fluctuates with events such as new moons, full moons, and barimetric pressure changes.

"We do tend to see increased activity during low barimetric systems," Little said.

Not only was there an increase in activity in the obstetrics department, but the hospital also temporarily evacuated patients from their rooms to the hallways of the hospital for about 20 minutes while the tornado warning was in effect early Sunday morning.

"We actually moved the patients and their families so that they were away from the windows," Little said. "The windows are rated for hurricanes, but the tornado warning sort of triggered more of a response."

Some new parents at the hospital, though, got worried about giving birth during a storm, but said the hospital quickly soothed their fears.

"With the hurricane coming, I didn't know what to think," Williams said. "My nerves were shaky but with how the hospital was, everyone working here, they actually kept me calm."

Stephen and Dolores Podrang of Centereach agreed. Dolores gave birth to Landon Joseph Podrang at 4:52 a.m. on Sunday, and the couple said there was definitely some worry on the way to the hospital at around 3 a.m. But, they said, there wasn't too much rain or wind to deal with yet.

"We definitely felt safe being in the hospital," Stephen Podrang said. "I wouldn't have been uncomfortable at home, but [the hospital] is a well-run institution with protocols in place in case of disaster."

According to Clinton Weaver, senior director of public affairs and marketing, the emergency department was somewhat quiet during the storm because people heeded local officials' warnings and stayed off the roads. On Sunday, 197 people visited the ER, whereas the hospital sees about 230 patients per day in the ER. But Monday was the busiest day in the history of the ER at SBUMC, Weaver said: 324 people were seen.

There were also a handful of patients redirected this past weekend from Good Samaritan Hospital and South Side Hospital on both the emergency and obstetrics side of operations. The hospital used a system called "incident command" to monitor the conditions and act accordingly.

"We set up an emergency operations center to see any issues as they came up," Weaver said, "but the issues were relatively minor."