With a collective 25 years in the field of dispatch, Emergency Medical Dispatcher Angela Bass really has heard it all. But nothing strikes the heart of her mama bear instincts like hearing a child’s life is on the line.
On the evening of July 1, 2023, the Seminole County (Florida, USA) communication center received a call that a child was foaming at the mouth. Though they had the location of the incident, the call was disconnected. While the dispatch center attempted to return the call, Bass answered a second plea for help from a different caller at the scene, revealing that a two-year-old girl had just been dragged out of an apartment complex pool.
Paralyzing shock and panic erupted as a crowd surrounded the limp body of the gurgling toddler. Screaming at the scene was impeding hearing on either end, which only increased Bass’ focus. She acted quickly, initiating an ECHO response for drowning. Then, with nearly memorized guidance, Bass began CPR instructions.
Bass said, “As soon as I gave the caller instructions to place the girl flat on her back, she was immediately receptive and started screaming through the commotion, ‘Put her on her back! On her back!’”
At one point the caller, later discovered to be the child’s aunt, described the efforts on scene: “They’re pushing on her chest,” but Bass knew they needed to do mouth-to-mouth resuscitation as well. Using repetitive persistence, Bass instructed the caller, “Ma’am, listen to me,” then followed with instructions on rescue breathing.
“I needed to provide her with more instructions [respirations], and I gave her a reason [drowning victims need oxygen],” Bass said. “It just makes sense. The only way a caller can understand what you are trying to do is if you tell them. All they know is that they want this to stop happening.”
Within minutes, Deputy Sheriff Douglas Mactye of the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office arrived on scene and continued CPR before the paramedics arrived. The caller had put aside the phone, but Bass left the call open to verify that CPR was being done by listening to the officer’s radio in the background.
By now, the entire communication staff had their hearts dialed into the radio for any update on the patient. Upon arrival, the paramedics began efforts to work out the chlorinated water from the toddler’s lungs.
“When they’re so young, it’s all you want,” Bass said. “It’s almost as if each of us was willing this child to live.”
But no relief came until the start of the next night’s shift. Supervisors informed the staff that the child had 100% oxygen when she arrived at the hospital. They anticipated a full recovery upon her release.
“It was the ultimate feeling,” Bass said. “I felt the mom and dad’s pain, and then I felt their relief and joy.”
In September, Bass was honored to receive a Life Saving Award at an Annual Patriot Remembrance Day Breakfast. She was recognized alongside the police and fire crew members responsible for two-year-old Shayneli’s rescue. Bass basked in the pride of her biggest supporters at the event: her husband and daughter.
Even sweeter for Bass was the opportunity to meet little Shayneli and her parents at the communication center. The staff threw a celebration in honor of the girl’s third birthday with cupcakes, decorations, and a sash and tiara for the guest of honor.
“I was just ecstatic to watch her running around and playing,” Bass said. Shayneli enjoyed playing with the new doll set and playhouse Bass picked out for her.
“Anytime I see a little one, I think of Shayneli,” she said. “I feel the joy of her parents to know she is still here in the world to grow up, and I may have had something to do with that future available to her. That makes me want to come back every day to do the job.”
