WATCH VIDEO: SIMON DEE TALKS ABOUT REAL CALL
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HELP FOR PREGNANT WOMAN IN HOSPITAL DASH
Simon Dee was just a couple of weeks into his job as a Communicator at Wellington's Central Communications Centre.
A Victoria University student at the time, he'd been recruited along with five other students to increase the number of part-time staff.
Simon answered a 111 call from a woman in the advanced stages of labour. She and her partner were racing from their home in the backblocks towards hospital. A Police escort was desperately needed.
Simon reassured the woman while her partner negotiated the country roads.
"I was on the phone to her for about 20 minutes, although it felt more like 2. I concentrated on trying to make her 'know' that everything would be fine, so that she could leave all the worrying to us.
"I tried to get her to convince her partner to slow down and obey the road rules until a lights and sirens escort arrived. Knowing an escort was on the way definitely made that call easier.
"The dispatcher started typing questions in the job like: 'How long between contractions?', as they were on the phone to Ambulance at the same time. It was a case of finding out important medical information, looking out for their safety, and alleviating her (very well founded) concerns all in the space of a short, highly emotional phone conversation.
"It's given me heightened respect for the work that Ambulance calltakers do, and in the end once we had an escort up and running, I hung up so that Ambulance could talk to her until she was at the hospital.
"It was really satisfying to be able to play a part in a new life arriving safely," he says.
Simon never did find out whether the baby was a boy or a girl.
