LaPorte County E911 Dispatcher helps deliver baby

LAPORTE, Ind.-- A LaPorte County 911 dispatcher is hailed a hero after delivering her first baby over the phone!

Melissa Elder has only been a LaPorte County 911 dispatcher for about a year now.

To successfully aid a couple in giving birth and help them administer CPR, she says, is a huge win not only for her, but for the entire department.

Melissa elder says it was a pretty slow night when she got the call from a frantic father who simply said ‘my wife is going to have a baby.’

Elder says that’s when her training kicked in.

Just in case, she pulled out her emergency medical dispatch cards that tells you step by step what to do in case she ran into any trouble.

In this case, she did.

“He said that she was ready to push so I just told her, don’t hold the baby in, get a clean towel ready and she pushed and he first said the baby wasn’t breathing. I started to go through CPR  and i heard the baby give out a big wail. Yeah, it was a relief," said Elder.

Elder has only been with the department for a year, but LaPorte County 911 Dispatch Director Steven Alt says,  their training methods are what helped give this emergency call a happy ending.

“It is a thankless job but fortunately the state just recognized us as first responders. What people don’t really realize is that we are the first eyes on the scene, we just have to use someone else’s eyes to explain what's going on. What they have to do, again, she used her EMD cards required by the state but basically other than that its just good training officers that we have here that teach you how to remain under control. She's a new person but was well trained," said Alt.

The next day, Elder came to work to find a baby rattle and a certificate for her heroic efforts.

‘In all of that chaos, finishing and knowing, hearing the medics call in for times, that’s when I found out it was a boy. Knowing that they were both healthy, hearing them say medics in route times two just made me so happy. We get so many bad calls so to get a good call with a happy ending is a great feeling," said Elder.

Due to HIPPA laws, Elder isn’t allowed to contact the family but she says she wishes the family the best.

She is grateful to be a part of this moment for the family and provide the help that they needed.