By Sheila Stogsdill, Tulsa World
Original publication date: Dec. 26

Tahlequah, Okla. — A Cherokee Nation 911 operator was recently recognized for her directions over the telephone to a father as he delivered his son on the side of the road. Danai Cole, a 10-year Cherokee Nation employee, was recently awarded the “Stork” pin for her actions.

The award is traditionally given to medics when they deliver a newborn, but Cole’s direction and calmness during the man’s panic-stricken emergency telephone call showed she was deserving of such an honor, officials with the tribe said.

“It’s humbling to think you played a part in bringing a new life into the world,” Cole said. “I would take the call to do it again anytime – to think it came to me as a dispatcher is really exciting.” It was the first call of the day for Cole on Dec. 14. At 10:28 a.m., she picked up the 911 call and heard a man frantically say: “We are going to have a baby.” Cherokee Nation officials declined to identify the mother or father.

“This was the first baby I assisted with a delivery by phone,” Cole said. The mother and father and another female passenger were on their way to W.W. Hastings Hospital in Tahlequah. But because of the mother’s intense and frequent labor pains, the father pulled to the side of the highway and called for help because it appeared the baby wasn’t going to wait, she said.

Cole said she was alert to the background sounds while talking to the father, and when she heard the mother screaming, she realized she was in the later stages of labor and dispatched an ambulance to them. The contractions were less than two minutes apart and the mother’s water had broken, she said. “The father did very well as a (birthing) coach,” Cole said. “He was telling the mother to breathe, relax and not to push.”

On the third contraction, Cole said she heard the mother scream a long and anguished “No!” and the father suddenly scream, “The baby’s out!” “I relied on my EMT training and told him how to hold the baby and clear the airway,” Cole said. As a trained EMT, Cole, who delivered a baby while employed with Stillwell ambulance service, was concerned about the umbilical cord being wrapped around the baby’s neck and the airway passages being cleared.

The baby started crying and the dad yelled, “It’s a boy,” Cole said. “I had him wrap the baby up and lay him on the mother’s stomach,” Cole said. “The ambulance arrived about that time to take over. It was all over in less than four minutes.” “You could hear the happiness and joy,” Cole said. “I told him, ‘Sir – congratulations.'”

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