UTAH COUNTY, Utah, April 15, 2021 (Gephardt Daily) — Utah County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Spencer Cannon was on his way to work Thursday morning, when a red light gave him the opportunity to glance at the computer in his patrol car.
“I’m looking at it, and I see a call and the nature of the call says ‘pregnancy,’ and I think, oh, that’s an interesting one,” Sgt. Cannon said in an interview his department posted on Facebook. “Maybe a woman is having some difficulties, that’s usually what it means, and needs to see a doctor.
“Well, I open the call up, and it says a woman is in labor. I read further down in the notes, and it says her water has broken. I read further down in the notes, and it says the baby’s head is crowning. I read further down in the notes, and it says the baby has been trying to cough.”
Cannon assessed the alarming information.
“So that tells me the baby has been delivered and is now born, and it says the cord is wrapped around its neck.
“So who is the anchor in all of this who is helping this no-doubt terrified mother who’s in this moment supposed to bring some of the greatest happiness in one’s life, yet the cord is wrapped around her baby’s neck. And this dispatcher walks her through this and gets this baby here healthy, and it was a success.”
The Utah County dispatcher just happened to accomplish all of this during National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week, which honors 911 dispatchers, Cannon said.
“If there had been a plan to demonstrate how much we should show our appreciation to 911 dispatchers — a dispatcher delivered a baby on the phone, and a minute after the baby was born, medical shows up to help take care of him. She’s (the dispatcher is) the one who helped the mother bring this baby into the world alive.”
Medical crews arrived on scene and took quick steps to ensure mother and child were safe and stable and transported them to the hospital for further care.
But not before the infant boy was delivered, and the umbilical cord was moved to allow him to take his first breath. The dispatcher may have saved two lives Thursday, using knowledge and a phone line, Cannon said.
“Thank you to 911 dispatchers who keep us anchored and communicating with the world,” he said.
