Overnight last Friday, 10-month-old Erica Smith's parents heard their baby gasping for breath and knew something was wrong.

"She went kind of like leathery and then turned blue and her veins started popping out in her neck," the baby's father, Sean Smith said.


Baby Erica was in respiratory arrest caused by a high fever -- and her parents made a lifesaving call.

"I feel like God placed me at the right time to be able to do what needed to be done," said Angelina Dickson, the EMT dispatcher at the Weirton Area Ambulance & Rescue Squad who answered the call.


Before more help arrived, Dickson guided the baby's family through CPR. Smith said he's been trained in CPR before, but it's all different when your little girl's life is on the line in the middle of the night.



Smith said, "It was definitely surreal at first, there's no doubt. I remembered what to do and stuff like that, but having somebody in the background saying, you know, repeating what to do and the technique, stuff like that, settled me in more."


Smith said he is thankful Dickson stayed on the line to help him save his daughter while they waited for an ambulance.

"It's definitely lifesaving what they're doing and how quickly and calm she stayed and everything on the line too. It's definitely a great public service," Smith said about the Weirton rescue squad.



Dickson remained on the line until the ambulance arrived. On a tape, she is heard telling Smith's wife, "Ma'am they're on your street, OK? They should be coming up to the door at any time."



Jeff Cline, the first paramedic to arrive at the scene, said the brain can only go about six minutes without oxygen. After that, the body could suffer cardiac arrest or brain death. So, the CPR Erica's father gave her kept her going long enough to be revived.


Cline said, "She was just kind of just like limp, flaccid, and we worked on her and when we got her to the hospital, in just a couple minutes she let out this loud cry… And that's a warmest feeling I had felt all month, was to hear her cry."


Starting in July 2013, all West Virginia 911 centers will be required to be trained for medical emergencies, but Hancock County will be exempt from the regulation.
Ohio 911 centers are already required to be trained for similar emergencies.


Even though it's not required by law, the squad trains their employees to give guidance like they gave the Smiths, and those seven minutes of CPR before the ambulance arrived made all the difference for baby Erica.

Dickson said without that training, she couldn't have helped the family save their baby. Weirton rescue squad supervisor Eric Zaney said Erica's story is a perfect example of why training is important.

If dispatchers weren't trained, the only thing they would be permitted to do is tell the caller that help is on the way.

"Essentially, it's saving us minutes. And minutes is what saves lives," Zaney said. "The heart only has a few minutes, so does the brain when it comes to people not breathing, no heartbeat. That time is saved with the emergency medical dispatcher giving those instructions to the caller."