CUMBERLAND COUNTY, Pa. — Baby Ellis’s first month on earth has been calm.
But the way she came into this world on May 2 was a bit chaotic.
“Things started progressing and I told my husband, he wanted to go to the hospital and I said 'We can't go to the hospital because she's coming,'" Ellis's mother, Krista Allwein, said.
Before Allwein knew it, she and her husband were calling 911 from home.
On the other end of the phone was Cumberland County dispatcher, Haley Dressler.
“I heard a frantic father whose wife was in labor, I didn’t understand how far along she was in the labor process and then he advised his wife was crowning and this was happening and I was going to help deliver this baby," said Dressler.
Haley was honored by the Cumberland County Commissioners Tuesday for doing exactly that.
“Having her walk us through that and hearing the step-by-step and knowing we were doing everything we were supposed to be doing was really helpful," said Allwein.
In less than a year on the job, Haley has become the 30th member of the county’s exclusive “Stork Club," a group of Cumberland County dispatchers who have assisted in the successful delivery of 37 babies since the inception of Emergency Medical Dispatch 31 years ago.
It's something even Haley's dad, Gary, who has spent three decades in public safety, hasn't done.
“First reaction, I was upset…how is she showboating me already?!" said Dressler. "I’m really proud of her, she used her training, she’s been coming here with me since she was little and to see it come full circle, [it was a] proud dad moment.”
"We have a lot of rough calls day in and day out in this job and to be able to hear [Ellis's] first cry when she came into this world to see her happy and healthy a month later, is super rewarding," said Haley.
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