What the Detroit Call Should Have Been

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Lamar Daily News

Local tot receives award for 9-1-1 call

By CRYSTAL TERRELL

LDN Staff Writer

Saturday, April 29, 2006 -

" I remember just sitting there drinking a pop. I remember seeing the

pop fall and the next thing I knew, I woke up lying on the bed, "

remarked Adkins as she recounted the day her blood sugar

fell so low that she passed out.

On April 9th the Prowers County Communications Center received a call

for a mother in need of medical assistance. The call came in at 10:15

in the morning. On the other end of the line was 8 year old Adkins.

Adkins suffers from diabetes and on the day in question,

Adkins' blood sugar had been relatively low. The mother stated that

she had sat down for a moment to drink the soda to increase her blood

sugar count when she became unconscious.

Little had been trained by her family to call 9-1-1 in the

event of an emergency. Her family made it a point to instruct each

member of the household on what to say and what vital information to

give to the dispatcher.

was given the chance to test her skills as her mother was in a

critical situation, unable to communicate or get to the phone for help.

The event left the young girl and her brother Elijah to seek medical

assistance for their mom.

" When I woke up, Elijah was crying. later told me that Elijah

had put his hands together and started to pray and that was when I

woke up, " stated.

" did an excellent job, " noted Darla Baker, Emergency 9-1-1

supervisor. " She was calm and was able to tell Emergency 9-1-1

dispatcher, Burkhart, all the required information that was

needed to send medical help to her mother. "

The nation's 9-1-1 systems have become the backbone of emergency

reporting and response. The term " nine-one-one " has become synonymous

with public safety in general.

The 9-1-1 systems have become complex with the addition of more

advanced forms of communications, including cellular and satellite

phones, automatic crash notification systems and, most recently,

Voice Over IP (VoIP) telephone service.

The 9-1-1 telephone system equipment routs calls to the nearest

public safety agency communications center, and in most cases

displays the callers location and telephone to the dispatcher so that

help can be on the way as soon as possible.

Behind the technology is a story of many who have worked to save the

lives of others. On April 27th , her mother, and her

brother, Elijah visited the Emergency 9-1-1 Center. The family had

the opportunity to meet Burkhart, the 9-1-1 dispatcher who

was on the other end of the line with ; Darla Baker, Emergency

9-1-1 supervisor; as well as the responders from the Lamar Fire and

Ambulance Service, Kemp and Sherwood, who were on the

scene to assist Adkins with her diabetes related incident.

was presented with a cassette tape copy of her phone call to

the Prowers County Communications Center, a 9-1-1 Cares teddy bear, a

certificate of merit commending little for her quick thinking

and heroic effort in calling 9-1-1 to aid the dispatcher in getting

help to her mother.