Dispatcher who helped deliver baby recognized

For Tommy Holmes, talking a woman through delivering a baby at a Chapel Hill bus stop is just part of the job.

“It kind of ups your adrenaline,” said Holmes, who has worked with Orange County Emergency Services since 2007. “But something new is always happening here.”

Holmes, a 911 dispatcher, will be honored next month by the North Carolina 911 Board for the service he provided over the phone on Nov. 7 when he assisted with a birth at the Chapel Hill Transit bus stop at Abernethy Hall.

Holmes instructed UNC English Ph.D. student Emily Brewer on what to do until the paramedics arrived. The mother, Elizabeth Aguilar-Lopez, named her baby girl Emily in honor of Brewer.

Captain Dinah Jeffries, Orange County’s EMS operations manager, said the heavily trafficked location of the birth made the call more difficult.

“There’s a lot of noise and traffic around,” she said. “It was challenging to make sure we got someone there fast while still keeping everyone calm.”

Holmes said he used training he received through the National Academies of Emergency Medical Dispatch, such as instructing Brewer to tie a shoelace around the umbilical cord to stop the flow of blood.

Richard Taylor, executive director at the North Carolina 911 Board, said Holmes kept his composure and made sure that everyone was safe even after the baby was born.

“He did a great job in making sure that everything was good — the patient was good, the baby was good and the caller was good — until EMS got on the scene,” he said. “That’s what they’re trained to do, and he did it in a very exemplary manner.”

Taylor said this is the third award presented by the 911 board this year.

He said the board gives out the award because telecommunicators are often overlooked.

“We think of 911, we think of police officers, fire trucks and ambulances,” he said. “But very rarely does anyone ever think about where that 911 call starts, and that’s with the telecommunicator.”

Holmes is the first telecommunicator from Orange County Emergency Services Department to be recognized by the board.

But Holmes insisted the call was a team effort.

“I think the award represents the communication center more than it does me,” he said. “We’ve got a good group here, and we all work hard to serve the citizens of Orange County.”

Holmes said that this was his first time helping to deliver a baby — but that unique situations like these are just part of working in emergency response.

“I’m glad to be receiving the award,” he said. “But it’s really just another day at the office.”

Contact the desk editor at city@dailytarheel.com.