At a township committee meeting, Egg Harbor Township officials presented certificates of appreciation to police officers, emergency medical technicians and communications staff who assisted with two emergency childbirths and a separate motor-vehicle fire rescue earlier this year.

Township leaders read proclamations and recognized teams involved in three incidents: an emergency roadside childbirth on March 6, 2025; a single-vehicle crash and vehicle fire on Delilah Road on March 14, 2025; and a premature birth outside Ollie’s Furniture at English Creek Center on April 18, 2025. The committee said the responses involved dispatchers guiding callers, officers and EMTs who delivered infants or extricated and stabilized patients for hospital transport.

The proclamation for the March 6 call named officers Heidi Wallerman, Gary Johnson, Samuel Walsh and Joanne Parker; EMTs Jillian Millish and William (Bill) Shallcross; and communications officer Juliet/Juliette (recorded in the meeting as Juliet Lipari/Juliette LeCari). A separate certificate named officers Michael O’Hagan, Dominic Newman, Matthew Perkins and Nathan Lair for the March 14 Delilah Road crash, noting that officers extricated an unconscious driver from a burning vehicle and Perkins helped extinguish the fire. The April 18 citation honored Chris Shuster and Steve Lee for responding to a woman in distress at English Creek Center; the proclamation says paramedics cleared the infant’s airway, administered oxygen and transported mother and baby to a hospital.

Chief (Egg Harbor Township Police Department) praised communications staff and dispatchers for directing resources in emergencies, saying dispatchers “get the resources going to provide those assets” and noting that dispatchers handle calls at the worst moments in people’s lives. Captain of Police and Community Services (recorded in the meeting as Catherine) and other presenters stressed the partnership among dispatch, police, fire and EMS. The chief added, “our communications officers . . . should have equal [recognition] to our EMTs and fire personnel.”

Committee members and presenters said the mothers and infants were taken to hospital care and described them as stable. The March 14 patient was reported stabilized and transported to AtlanticCare Medical Center for surgical treatment; the April 18 infant was described in the proclamation as born seven weeks premature and stabilized by paramedics. The committee did not adopt any policy measures during the presentations: the proclamations were recognition items placed on the record.

The committee also introduced several other proclamations at the same meeting, including recognition of National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week and Municipal Clerks Week, highlighting the municipality’s emphasis on first-responder and administrative roles.

Speakers at the presentations included Chief (Egg Harbor Township Police Department); Juliette LeCari (communications officer); Chris Shuster (EMT); Steve Lee (EMT); Michael O’Hagan (K-9 officer); Dominic Newman (officer); Matthew Perkins (officer); Nathan Lair (officer); Jillian Millish (EMT); William “Bill” Shallcross (EMT); Captain Catherine (Police and Community Services); Mayor (Egg Harbor Township); and Committeeman Pauls (who read one proclamation).