As an emergency dispatcher for more than 25 years, Diane Lind of the Dakota County Sheriff's Office never had to help deliver a baby by phone.
But, as the supervisor of the Dakota County Communications Center, Lind has experienced a population explosion of baby delivery assistance calls made by her dispatchers.
In the past year the 52 dispatchers have helped deliver seven babies, and they've had about 14 such cases in the three years since the dispatch center was opened.
"That sounds about right," said dispatcher Jolene Cemesky, who in the winter of 2008 helped deliver a baby girl by phone. "We have had a rash of baby delivery calls lately."
In fact, since 2008, about a quarter of the dispatchers in Dakota County have helped frantic parents deliver babies. Those who've had the experience form a growing club at the dispatch center, each of whom is recognized with a stork-shaped pin.
"We didn't really start counting them until we realized we had seven last year," said Lind, who notes that many if not most dispatchers go through their entire careers without handling such a sensitive call.
Which makes dispatcher Brent Anderson even more unusual. The 10-year veteran has handled two births in the past three years, including one last month when he helped deliver a girl in Inver Grove Heights.
Lind said that Anderson, who works nights, picked up the phone at 6:33 and was quickly informed that a birth was imminent. This was the fourth child for the couple, which medical personnel say might explain why it happened so quickly. By 6:37, while first responders were still five minutes away, the mother delivered a healthy baby girl. Anderson stayed on the phone and, following a script, gave post-delivery instructions about tying off the umbilical cord and wrapping the baby in clean warm towels.
"At last report the mother and daughter are doing great," Lind said.
That birth came about two weeks after another dispatcher, Mike Whebbe, helped deliver a baby girl on Nov. 18, 2010.
That call, from a frantic husband in South St. Paul, came in at 1:25 a.m. Whebbe gave the father pre-arrival instructions while the mother could be heard in the background.
Lind said the baby girl arrived at 1:31, heralded by her loud cries upon being born.
"It's a very rewarding experience," Cemesky said. "The dad was panicking and I remember hearing the baby crying."
A statistical fluke?
In 2008, shortly after the county opened a new consolidated communications center, Lind and other county officials decided to honor dispatchers who went above and beyond the call of duty by giving them certificates and stork pins.
Within a month, Anderson handled his first baby delivery, assisting a couple in Burnsville who were driving on County Road 42 when the baby started to arrive before they reached the hospital. Anderson was able to walk them through the birth procedure without complications, Lind said.
No one can explain why there have been so many dispatcher-assisted deliveries in Dakota County, which handles more than 300,000 calls for service each year, including about 17,000 medical calls.
Bill Forseth, the emergency medical services coordinator for the Dakota County Public Health Department, said such a large cluster of delivery calls is extremely unusual.
"It's not very typical -- rare, I would say," Forseth said.
He said the county's dispatch center, like most around the country, uses a script or protocol compiled by the National Academies of Emergency Dispatch in Salt Lake City.
The idea, he said, is to have everything spelled out so that emotions and concerns don't get in the way of a safe birth.
"We consider it part of the job," Cemesky said. "But if you get the call, you are the one. It's a very interesting experience."
Heron Marquez • 952-707-9994
