Special Delivery

It isn’t unusual for Emergency Dispatchers at Cobb County Department of Emergency Communications (Marietta, Georgia, USA) to receive a childbirth call and walk the callers through the first steps of the Protocol. It isn’t even unusual for a baby to be born on the scene when the EMS and fire responders arrive.

It is, however, pretty rare for an Emergency Dispatcher to stay on the line for an entire birth.

Even though the amount of childbirth calls Cobb County receives is proportional to its high call volume, that very call volume often means that the Emergency Dispatcher will disconnect to move on to another call without being able to hear the baby’s first cries.

“I’ve never delivered a baby before!” Leighann Schultz said. She’s the center’s Training and Quality Assurance Coordinator and has been in the field of emergency dispatch for eight years. “I’m always jealous when it happens.”

The childbirth call that Cobb County is celebrating was taken by Amber Hurst, Emergency Communications Officer II and Fire Communications Specialist, during April 2024. Hurst started working with Cobb County in January 2022. Despite her short tenure so far, she navigated Medical Priority Dispatch System^™ (MPDS^®) Protocol 24: Pregnancy/Childbirth/Miscarriage extremely well, not only for the delivery but also when the callers revealed that the baby’s umbilical cord was wrapped around its neck. After that hurdle was cleared, the worried parents reported that the baby wasn’t breathing.

“She remained in control, got the baby breathing, and kept the father focused and the mother calm as she provided Pre-Arrival Instructions and steady reassurances until the responders arrived on the scene,” Schultz said. “When the baby finally started crying, I wasn’t even taking the call and I felt a huge sense of relief.”

Schultz first came across the call when she was reviewing submissions to be considered for recognition at their National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week awards ceremony in 2025. Hurst’s supervisor submitted the call the night it happened in April, and Schultz reviewed it in May. The question then arose whether they ought to wait to celebrate this fantastic call or do something to recognize Hurst’s incredible effort now. Schultz sent the call up the chain, and everyone agreed that such an amazing call should be recognized sooner rather than later.

Hurst is excited to be recognized for her efforts, while also acknowledging that this is her job—of course she’s going to give it the best she’s got, even with the dad getting worked up and the mom screaming in labor in the background. She ended up talking with the mother at the end of the call, after all the PAIs and PDIs had been given, checking in and making sure she was all right. It’s not necessarily part of the Protocol, but it is excellent customer service and a heartwarming display of compassion.

“She’s been very humble about it,” said Operations Manager of Training and Quality Assurance Todd Borowski. Borowski has been in emergency dispatch for 32 years—the first 20 in Michigan and the last 12 in Georgia. “She knows it was a good call, but not in a bragging sort of way.”

Comm. center Director Melissa Alterio sent out an email to the entire center to recognize the call. Like Schultz, Alterio was also emotionally moved by the call, which is a tall order for someone who’s been in dispatch as long as she has.

“This call is a light [to our center],” Schultz said. “Our center being as big as it is, most of our calls seem like they’re more on the traumatic side. When we bring a baby in, everyone’s listening and everyone’s clapping.”

Cobb County is the second largest PSAP in the state of Georgia, and they process over 900,000 calls a year using the MPDS, the Fire Priority Dispatch System^™ (FPDS^®), and Police Priority Dispatch System^™ (PPDS^®).