Aquinnah’s newest resident was delivered at 11:48 p.m. on Sept. 1 as his parents Kyle Colter and Sophia Welch were on the phone with emergency dispatch. The mother and child were soon after brought to Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, where Aquinnah town administrator Jeffrey Madison said they were resting and doing well. Ms. Welch is Mr. Madison’s assistant in town hall.
Dukes County Sheriff’s tele-communicator James Grillo received a 911 call for a woman in labor just before midnight, according to the Dukes County Sheriff’s Office, and guided the parents-to-be through the labor process. Tri-Town Ambulance and Aquinnah Police further assisted the family upon arrival.
“These calls are not typical. They occur very infrequently,” Communications Center director Susan Schofield said.
All dispatchers are trained to give medical instructions over the phone, Ms. Schofield said. Dispatchers take a 32-hour course and then 12 hours of continuing education annually.
“We also require they perform regular scenario training,” she said, noting that this is the first time a birth has occurred while an Island dispatcher was still on the line before an ambulance arrived.
