A 911 call taught six-year-old Ali Hepinstall a lot about courage and possibly a career direction.
Now seven, the Severn Township girl was home on a sick day in February 2015 and as she awoke from a nap with her mom, she realized her mom was unresponsive and shaking. As she answered emergency dispatcher Jennifer Shier’s questions, an ambulance was on the way to get her mother Jennifer Zardo to hospital for treatment for epilepsy.
“I just woke up because I had a two-hour nap and she was having a seizure,” recalled Ali, who has now learned the proper terminology to use with emergency services staff.
But on that day when she called 911, Ali remained calm, although what she saw was really scary.
“Despite being on the verge of tears, Ali was able to listen to the questions and respond as best she could,” said Simcoe County Paramedic Service’s director Andrew Robert, who later named her a junior paramedic and gave her a card to fill out with her mom’s medical conditions should she ever need to help her mom again.
Shier, who answered the 911 call, stayed on the line reassuring Ali as well as providing information to the paramedics who were on their way.
“I kept telling you help is coming,” she said to Ali as they met after Ali received the Simcoe County 911 Management Board’s youth award for 2015.
“You did such a good job, better than some adults. You listened and answered questions.”
Ali now keeps a close eye on her mom.
Robert said Ali continued to support emergency services staff on scene.
“She told the paramedics what she saw. Ali’s attention to detail provided good information,” he said.
Ali said she would like to perhaps work in the emergency services when she grows up, but in the meantime, she’s learning more about epilepsy and she reminds her mom to take her medication.
“I had to tell her not to worry about me,” said Zardo, who has a history of epilepsy, but who doesn’t like to take her anticonvulsants due to side effects. Her seizures date back 15 years, to when she was pregnant with her oldest daughter, now 14.
“I keep telling myself I’m not an epileptic, but I am,” she said.
Thursday’s awards, which are the ninth annual awards, recognized an array of paramedics, firefighters, police and emergency dispatchers.
“We’re honouring the men and women who provide a voice of calm and a lifeline to our emergency responders,” said Simcoe County’s 911 and emergency planning manager Cathy Clark, as she prepared to recognize 32 emergency services professionals in addition to youth winner.
“The call taker had no idea what’s gong to be coming their way. They handled every situation with the same calm professionalism. That’s a skill absolutely vital to our lives.
“Most of us never pick up the phone and have a mother with a baby who is choking, someone who is considering committing suicide, someone whose lifelong partner is having a heart attack."
Each year, emergency communicators handle 63,000, said Simcoe County Warden Gerry Marshall.
“When you do the math, that’s an ambulance going on the road every eight minutes. That’s incredible.
“The sheer number of honorees is a testament to excellence.”
Every call has a story.
Barrie Fire and Emergency Services deputy chief Sue Dawson told how a South Simcoe Police team worked together to find a lost hiker.
“A woman was out walking her dogs. She tripped and got lost.”
An emergency dispatcher stayed on the phone with her for the next hour helping her to remain calm while a teammate tracked her cell phone. They encouraged her to get her dogs to bark to assist police in the search through the woods.
Another team faced the challenge of keeping connected to 911 during an extended power outage in September 2015.
“This is something you prepare for, plan for and hope will never happen,” said Dawson, on behalf of the managers of the 10 communications centres that serve the Simcoe County region.
“Half the team was sent to the backup site, which had never been used before. They had to go back to paper, which is never fun. This team worked this way for seven hours.”
In March 2015, a house explosion on Collette Crescent rocked the area and challenged local emergency teams.
“Within the first few minutes, Barrie Fire received more than 30 calls and the callers were frantic. They were reporting flames shooting 20 feet in the air and teenagers being trapped in the back yard.
“Information was very graphic and serious,” said Clark, who added 14 paramedic units responded to the scene. Eleven people were seriously injured, and of those, four were sent to specialized Toronto hospitals.
In June 2015, a complex rescue occurred in the Nottawasaga Bluffs. A hiker fell and got trapped in a cave. Hours passed before another hiker passed by and called for help.
“What made this call so unusual was not only the coordination between Clearview and Barrie fire departments, but Toronto fire. The call lasted 14 hours,” said Dawson.
"Communications staff at Barrie Fire and Emergency Services stuck with them. They had to fulfill some unusual requests for the scene, such as contacting Ontario Mine services and getting generators.”
On a Saturday morning in August 2015, a Barrie Police team responded to a kidnapping in downtown Barrie.
“It required a high level of teamwork. They operated in a highly coordinated and professional manner throughout the five-hour incident,” said Dawson.
Emergency communicators Danielle Ballagh and Sarah Kenwright helped Barrie police and officers from other nearby forces who supported them during the incident. Communication occurred on several emergency radio frequencies.
“This same group had to continue to handle 37 other calls for service,” Dawson added.
