LIHUE It was well past midnight when dispatchers Deborah Carvalho and Donn Taniguchi got a call from a Kauai man in need of some serious help.
LIHUE — It was well past midnight when dispatchers Deborah Carvalho and Donn Taniguchi got a call from a Kauai man in need of some serious help.
Specifically it was at 2:30 a.m. on the morning of Sept. 9, 2019. The man’s wife was in labor and the baby was coming fast.
And for their actions over the next few minutes, the two were recognized as Kauai Police Department Employees of the Month in December of 2019.
“The entire process took less than two minutes from the call to the delivery,” said KPD’s Communication Section Sgt. Stacy Perreira during a ceremony to acknowledge Carvalho and Taniguchi.
Perreira continued:“Donn was extremely professional in handling this rare situation and although the baby’s delivery was fast, he provided a calm voice in the middle of a critical situation. Deborah was also instrumental in that she provided fire and medical personnel with up-to-date information as the birthing process took place.”
The caller and his family weren’t identified in County of Kauai releases about the delivery, but a few details are clear about that evening.
A man called 911 at 2:30 a.m. to report his wife was in labor and that the head was crowning as he was calling. Within a few minutes, with the help of those dedicated dispatchers, the baby was delivered.
Taniguchi kept composure while walking the caller through the process of wrapping the baby in a towel and ensuring that the baby was crying while the husband and wife waited for medics to arrive.
Kauai Fire Department personnel arrived on the scene within minutes of the call and the baby and mother were deemed healthy.
