Newbie 911 dispatcher help deliver a baby in family truck on Utah highway

25 Feb 2019

A baby has been born in a highway (I-5) in a family truck in Utah last week, where a newbie 911 dispatcher has emerged as a real-life hero by helping the mom deliver the baby safely. William Kalaher is the hero here, who has joined as a 911 dispatcher in Utah recently, and was still in his probationary training period. Prior to joining 911, he was working as a resident assistant at Snow College Residence Life in Utah.

Coming to the story, William Kalaher joined as a 911 operator just a couple of weeks ago and started receiving solo calls as a dispatcher. He faced the real test in his probationary period when Kristin Allred and her husband Shay called 911 when Kristin was about to deliver the baby in the car on December 18.

According to the report from KUTV, Kristin Allred felt contractions at approximately 1 am on December 18 and her husband quickly reacted by taking her towards the Salt Lake City Hospital in his car. They believed that they can get to the hospital before the delivery, but things doesn’t go according to their calculations. She felt like she needs to start pushing, Kristin told ABC News.

This is when the couple started talking to the 911 operator William Kalaher, then Kristin delivered the baby (a baby girl) in a minute. Mom pushed her baby out by herself and placed her daughter on her chest, but she quickly realized that the baby is not breathing as the umbilical cord was wrapped around the baby’s neck.

At this time, luckily, the 911 dispatcher who was in-line in a call with the couple, knew what to do at this crucial time. He said to her husband: “Alright, listen to me very carefully. This is what I need you to do.” He asked Shay to find any string, possibly a shoelace and tie it around the umbilical cord tightly approximately six inches from the baby’s belly button. Shay followed the instruction immediately and tied his shoelace to the cord, and miraculously, the baby started breathing in a few seconds.

“As soon as we tilted her head back, she just gasped her first breath and it was like, ah, thank goodness,” Shay told KUTV in Salt Lake City. “He was great,” said Shay. William Kalaher said in an interview to KUTV:

“I really wasn’t expecting it. But you’ve got to be ready for it. It’s 911. The first thing I did was call my mom! I was like, ‘Mom, I delivered a baby on I-15!’ And she’s like, ‘What?’”
Following the safe delivery of a baby girl by Kristin, Police and paramedics reached the spot in about five minutes and checked the mother and baby immediately and rushed them to the hospital (Intermountain Medical Center (IMC)) and discharged on Sunday. According to Kristin Allred, William responded to the call in his cool and was focused on what his duty was. She said that he has also tried to keep the couple focused on what they have to do in that critical moment.

William Kalaher – Source: Facebook Profile.
“We do daily training calls that help us be prepared, because you never expect it. It just happens when it happens,” said Kalaher. “Daily training is where it comes into play. Honestly, my entire focus was on those two.”

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