VIDEO: In a heart-pounding roadside emergency, a dispatcher with the Santa Rita Fire District helped deliver a baby over the phone, turning a frantic 911 call into a story of calm, quick thinking and a safe new life. The call, which came in on April 2, has now become a highlight of National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week, which began on Sunday, April 13. Darby Cech, a communications specialist and acting supervisor at the Valley Emergency Communication Center (VECC), took the call just after 5 p.m. A couple en route from Green Valley to a Tucson hospital found themselves caught in the middle of active labor.
The baby was coming and fast. We got a 911 call for a woman who had gone into labor, Cech recalled. The guy said, My wife is in labor. I can see the baby’s head. What do I do? Cech calmly instructed the father to pull over and began walking him through the delivery over the phone. Within moments, the baby was born right there on the side of the road. But then, the situation took a terrifying turn. At one point, he said the baby’s face was purple, and I couldn’t hear the baby crying anymore, said Cech. I advised him to pat the babys back and feet. When I heard the baby cry again and he said her face was turning pink, I knew she was okay.
