9-1-1 OPERATOR IS HONORED BY FAMILY WHO CALLED FOR EMERGENCY HELP

It’s rare for a 9-1-1 Public Safety Telecommunicator to meet the caller on the other end of the line who is asking for emergency help. But one mother from Millstone is extremely grateful to an operator from the Monmouth County 9-1-1 Communications Center, who helped save her baby’s life, and now she wants to say, thank you. “She will always be a guardian angel to our family,” said Christine Doran.

Public Safety Telecommunicator Christine McCarthy took the emergency call from the baby’s panic stricken grandmother and mother, Christine Doran of Millstone, on the evening of October 6, 2009, after her seven week old baby boy appeared to have stopped breathing. First, McCarthy calmed the mother down and then talked her through CPR on the phone, all along reiterating that help, was on the way. “I was just doing my job. As a public safety telecommunicator, you must be trained to deal with all circumstances. I’m glad I was able to help and that the baby is healthy,” said Christine McCarthy, who has worked for the 9-1-1 Communications Center since 2007.

Christine Doran, who was begging for help to save her son’s life, will never forget that day, nor will she ever forget the help Christine McCarthy provided. That’s why she asked to meet McCarthy in person. “She helped save my baby’s life and for that I will be eternally grateful.”

The Monmouth County 9-1-1 Communications Center provides a high level of 9-1-1 services through the trained, dedicated team of public safety telecommunicators. They serve the County 24 hours, seven days a week, and are emergency medical dispatchers, emergency communication officers and National Crime Information Computer (NCIC) terminal operators. They deal with life and death situations every day and quite often never learn the outcome of the call. “These 9-1-1 operators are the unsung heroes of this operation, but their efforts often go unnoticed,” said

Acting Sheriff Shaun Golden. “That’s why it’s important for them to receive the acknowledgement they deserve.”

The Monmouth County 9-1-1 Communications Center provides 9-1-1 services to 44 municipalities, dispatches for 9 police departments, 31 fire departments and 24 first aid squads.