Parkland dispatcher helps deliver baby on second shift alone

By Susan McNeil

A career in emergency care peaked early for a new dispatcher in Prince Albert.

Emma MacDonald, age 19, was on her second shift alone on July 30 when she helped a woman deliver a baby over the phone. She described the experience as amazing.

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“I think that is probably going to be the most exciting thing I am going to do,” MacDonald said.

“It was the most adrenalizing thing I’ve ever done. I did not sleep the rest of the night.”

The call for help came in towards the end of MacDonald’s second shift without a trainer next to her, showing her the ropes.

“This lady had called me and said her stepdaughter was in labour. It was the stepmom calling and they were in their vehicle,” she said.

“I was a little bit freaking out, if I’m being honest.”

Despite training, MacDonald said she felt like she had no idea what to do in that moment of high tension, but luckly she had co-workers nearby that helped give her tips as she instructed the stepmom on what to do.

“They had trained me very nicely coming into it and actually had told me to look over that card the day before,” she said.

It was a second baby for the mom, but the stepmother was a little nervous, MacDonald explained.

“I gave a lot of reassurance, so I’m very glad they taught me a lot about that. That definitely helped us get through the call and keep everyone calm.”

One of the things she told the stepmom to do was to stop driving.

“She wanted to keep driving but I had told her that it was best to just stay there and let the paramedics come to them, as that is the safest (action) to do,” she said.

At 19, MacDonald had never attended a birth in person or over the phone before.

“It went a lot faster than I expected it to go,” she said. “Usually I’ve heard they take a while, and this one did not. It was a pretty quick thing.”

When the paramedics got there, the stepmom couldn’t talk to them because she was so busy thanking MacDonald over the phone.

“She was also saying it was a bit of a rollercoaster, which was absolutely right,” MacDonald said.

Originally, MacDonald was considering work as an EMR, so she applied as a dispatcher to see how much she would like the career. That question has now been answered.

“I love the people here. I love the way everyone treats each other here. It’s just absolutely amazing, so for now I am 100 per cent staying here,” she said. “I might end up doing paramedic on the other side at some point, but I’m not too sure at the moment.”

Parkland Ambulance said that like all of their staff that help deliver babies, MacDonald has been given a stork award to hang up on the wall, and she got a stork pin for her uniform as well.