Florida 911 dispatcher saves 2 lives in 1 shift

BUNNELL, Fla. - A 21-year-old dispatcher for the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office helped save two lives in the span of an hour during a recent 12-hour shift.

The News-Journal reported that the dramatic shift started at 3:30 p.m. on Sept. 6 when McKenzie Davis took a call from a frantic mother. The caller’s 6-month-old child wasn’t breathing.

Davis helped calm the woman down before describing how to administer CPR to the infant.

“The baby was turning color and I knew it needed CPR right away,” Davis said. “That mother, she listened and did a really great job.”

After a full round of CPR, the baby began breathing and moving. The child was transported to a children’s hospital.

“When the mother told me the baby was breathing, it was a weight lifted off my chest,” Davis said. “I think I did a pretty loud exhale. When she told me the baby was crying, I said ‘That’s good. That means he’s breathing.’”

A little over an hour later, the switchboard lit up again and Davis answered another call.

“As soon as I picked up the phone, I knew it was going to be a bad one,” she said.

A woman said that her 71-year-old husband was in a swimming pool and not breathing. Again, Davis calmed the caller before giving verbal commands over the phone.

Davis told the caller to get the man out of the water, which was accomplished by other family members on scene.

Davis told the caller to put the phone on speaker so she could provide instructions.

Davis gave instructions and counted aloud while the family took turns performing compressions. Davis continued instructions until deputies and paramedics arrived. Emergency workers found a strong pulse and the man was transported to the hospital by ambulance. He is expected to make a full recovery.

Davis, who has been a dispatcher for two years, went right back to the 9-1-1 switchboard after the call.