A Northern California 911 dispatcher fielded a call, only to realize it was coming from her own home: Her young son was choking and needed help.
Dispatcher Britney Melchor was able to keep calm and helped save her son's life.
Melchor’s son Maverick was playing in the bedroom of their Marysville home as his father moved furniture into the living room. When dad returned, he knew something was wrong.
"I tried to contact him, see what's going on, and realized he was choking,” Robert Kimball said.
Kimball, a former orderly, tried to dislodge a metal washer that the infant had swallowed -- without any success.
"As it progressed and he started having more trouble breathing, it got to a bright red and then he just went pale in the face,” Kimball said.
California
Kimball decided to call 911. On the other end was his fiancée, along with her fellow dispatcher. Kimball gave his information, including home address, and that's when the dispatcher realized her own son needed medical help.
"Mommy mode kinda hit,” Melchor said. “Like, ‘That's my son.’ I panicked. But then, I was like, ‘You know what, I gotta get him the help that he absolutely needs.’”
Melchor's maternal instincts gave way to training and composure -- despite her personal stake in this 911 call.
"Being behind the consul and in the room that you don't have interaction with anyone, you see firsthand now that you're someone's lifeline,” Melchor said. “You're their guardian angel in the few seconds that you're on the phone with them."
Melchor sent paramedics to her home. They arrived just before Kimball was able to clear Maverick's airway of the washer.
Emotions came later.
"I'm very protective of him,” Kimball said. “And it definitely hit me ... Knowing that happened and I was watching him."
Melchor is now realizing the impact of her everyday job.
"We actually help make the lives of everybody that calls us so much better,” she said.
