By Megan Navarro SAN MARCOS — One Hays County Sheriff’s Office dispatcher took her duties to a whole new level last month.
Stacy Johnston, a 911 dispatcher, has been with HCSO for about 18 years. She assumed her position after she was working for a tow truck company; they did abandoned vehicle auctions and a representative with the sheriff’s office would come to conduct those auctions and he encouraged her to apply.
Her favorite part of the job, Johnston said, is being able to help people in times of need because it’s rewarding to know that they can make a difference or change in somebody’s life when they are in crisis.
“A lot of people think that we just ‘answer a phone,’ which we do, but it entails a lot of coordination with other agencies, sending responses such as police, fire and EMS. There are some administrative duties that go along with it, but for the most part, we are a first responder, just like law enforcement,” she said. “We're the first people that they come into contact with in their time of need.”
Johnston has always wanted to be there for a family to assist them through delivering a baby on a 911 call. That didn't happen yet for her — that is, until Friday, Nov. 1.
‘People don't call us on their best days. We talk to them if they're sick or injured or in crisis, so to be able to help bring a little bit of joy into the world, it's a morale booster and it's super exciting for all of us to talk to somebody on a really good day.' “I could hear somebody clearly in distress in the background and the husband said that his wife was in labor and that he wanted to drive to the hospital. He thought that they could make it and she said that they weren't going to make it,” Johnston explained. “So, I started [to get] the medics on the way and continued to give them pre-arrival instructions to include opening the door, let's get some towels and make sure she's not sitting on the toilet. We don't want to try and prevent the birth and we don’t want mom sitting on the toilet so the baby doesn't fall into the water.”
Then, all of a sudden, the dispatcher hears one big scream in the background and the dad saying, “The baby’s out.”
“I asked him a few questions about the baby. ‘Is the baby breathing? How is mama doing?’ I gave him some instructions about the cord: 'you don't want to pull on the cord or anything and wrap the baby in some towels,'” she said.
“And then medics arrived and they took over from there.”
For her assistance in helping the dad deliver a healthy baby boy, Johnston received a Certificate of Recognition for pre-hospital delivery, which is something that she has waited for her entire dispatch career.
“It’s one of those goals that you can actually hope for in this job. I've seen a couple of my other co-workers who have gotten to deliver babies and it's just always been a goal of mine to help deliver a baby over the phone. I was so excited,” Johnston explained. “It’s just really exciting for all of us here when we get to assist with something like that. People don't call us on their best days. We talk to them if they're sick or injured or in crisis, so to be able to help bring a little bit of joy into the world, it's a morale booster and it's super exciting for all of us to talk to somebody on a really good day.”
