SUNNYVALE DISPATCHER ASSISTS DELIVERY

SUNNYVALE, Calif. – When Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety (DPS) Dispatcher Josie Silva came to work August 22, she had no idea she would deliver a baby before her shift ended.

But when she answered the late-afternoon 911 call from a distraught man, she responded with the cool professionalism of a public safety dispatcher. Which isn’t to say Silva actually was cool and collected. The call was for an imminent childbirth, and dad was calling for help.

As Silva spoke with the caller, her partners in the dispatch center were getting DPS Fire and an AMR ambulance on the way to assist. And in most cases, the first responders get to the scene in time to handle the delivery.

But not this time.

As she read from the dispatcher’s medical aid cards – cards that guide the dispatcher through identifying medical problems and then giving the dispatcher the proper medical directions to pass on to the caller – Silva admits this was a special moment.

“Dad was kind of nervous on the phone,” she said. “But so was I. In my 14 years as a dispatcher – eight of them in Sunnyvale – this is the first time I have had to reach for the childbirth medical card. But then, after being on the call for a few minutes, I heard the baby cry, and that was a very emotional moment for me.”

DPS Technical Services Manager Cindy Keehen says this may be the very first time a Sunnyvale dispatcher has been the one to handle the medical advice all the way through the actual birth. “In most cases, either the first responders get there in time to assist, or the woman is taken to the hospital, where she delivers the baby,” Keehen explained. “But this time, even though our fire and medical teams responded quickly, the baby was just a little bit faster.”

For her efforts, Silva was awarded a dispatcher’s stork pin, depicting a baby-carrying stork wearing a cap emblazoned with “911.”

Sunnyvale public safety dispatchers typically handle more than 5,600 emergency medical calls a year.