A Sandy Springs 911 center operator this week helped a frantic caller deliver a baby on a highway shoulder.
It was the first delivery for ChatComm, the seven-month-old 911 center Sandy Springs operates with Johns Creek.
The operator, referred to only as “Gina” in a May 5 release from the city, instructed the caller to deliver a baby on the shoulder of I-285 near Roswell Road.
“Our call taker did a fantastic job with this call,” said Stephanie Moody, a ChatComm supervisor.
She said the call came at 5:14 a.m. on May 1 from a man who was driving the woman to the hospital when she started to deliver her baby. Upon answering, Gina told the caller to pull over to the side of the road. She gathered his information and dispatched firefighters and emergency medical technicians to the scene, Moody said.
“While waiting for emergency services, she professionally began pre-arrival instructions to the caller on how to deliver the baby,” Moody said. “The caller, as you can imagine, was very upset and frantic, but our call taker kept him calm and maintained the call from the beginning to the end. The birth was immediate, and the baby was delivered via phone by our call taker and the caller.”
Rural Metro Ambulance arrived at the scene about five minutes later and transported both the mother and baby girl to Northside Hospital. City officials said the newborn is healthy.
ChatComm answers around 16,000 calls per month and dispatches about 8,500 calls for service.