A 21-year-old woman who works as a 911 dispatcher in Florida is being hailed a hero after helping save two lives during her shift.
McKenzie Davis assisted in resuscitating two people — a 6-month-old child and a 71-year-old man — in the span of an hour on Sept. 6 after providing CPR instructions over the phone, according to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office.
The saga began around 3:33 p.m. when Davis answered a call from a frantic mother who reported that her infant child had stopped breathing, authorities said in a press release.
Davis quickly calmed the mom down and walked her through CPR instructions, even counting aloud over the phone to ensure the compressions were being done at the proper speed, officials said.
The baby began breathing and moving again after a full round of CPR, according to the sheriff's office. The infant was then transported to a children’s hospital for further observation.
However, Davis' shift wasn't over and she helped revive another person who had stopped breathing in a separate incident.
Around 4:38 p.m., the 911 dispatcher received a call from another woman reporting that her elderly husband was in a swimming pool and not breathing, officials said.
Davis jumped into action once again, calming the distressed woman before instructing her to get the man out of the water.
Though family members on scene were able to bring the man to dry land, no one there was trained to do CPR and Davis told the woman to put the phone on speaker so she could provide instructions, according to authorities.
Family members took turns performing compressions under Davis' direction until deputies arrived and took over performing CPR, the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office said in its release.
When paramedics arrived on scene, they found that the man had a strong pulse and transported him to a nearby hospital.
The man is expected to fully recover, according to officials.
"9-1-1 is the number you call in your darkest hour and it is the voice on the other end of the line that can help you through whatever situation you are facing,” Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said in a statement.
“In these cases, McKenzie was able to not only calm the callers down enough to listen to the instructions, but she was also able to count with them to ensure they were doing compressions as often as required," Staly continued. "Already this year she has helped save four lives. She is a true hero and a great partner with our deputies in the field."
Davis, who has been a dispatcher for two years, told The Daytona News-Journal that she returned to the switchboard soon after helping revive the man.
"After those sort of phone calls, you take your time, re-gather yourself and you have to be there for the next person who needs you," she said.
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