Child rescue is commended by Police Department and Township Council.
By: Al Wicklund
MONROE The calm and efficient performance of two police dispatchers in a stressful near-drowning of a small child last summer was recognized by the township Police Department and the Township Council recently.
Telecommunications Officers Heather Berndt and Christa Bell received the department’s Life Saving Award in a ceremony at the April 28 Township Council meeting.
On the commendation request form that he submitted, Lt. Kenneth Huard wrote that Officers Bell and Berndt received a first-aid call July 16 from Elizabeth Aerts, who said her then 18-month-old daughter, Abagail, had been pulled from a 3-foot-deep wading pool and was not breathing.
"The officers dispatched patrol and first aid and assisted Ms. Aerts (by telephone) with rescue breathing and resuscitation efforts."
Lt. Huard said both officers helped direct the mother, who had revived her child by the time police and first aid units arrived.
Officers Berndt and Bell said it was the first time they had faced such a situation.
They were modest about what they did, but Judy Olbrys, director of the Municipal Ambulance Service, said they handled an awesome responsibility.
"Dispatchers have a lot of stuff thrown at them," she said. "When the calls come in, they never know what to expect. Very often, they are dealing with people in an emergency situation who often are alone and perhaps in a state of fear.
"The police dispatcher has to remain calm. It’s a stressful time for dispatchers, because they have limited control and have to sit there at headquarters and sweat out the call until people in the field arrive. Officers Bell and Berndt, as with all dispatchers, had to gain and retain the trust of the caller and offer the correct help," Ms. Olbrys said.
She said that, fortunately, Ms. Aerts, the mother of the rescued child, had had some CPR training and received the needed support from the officers.
Ms. Aerts, of Dartmouth Avenue, said that Ms. Bell and Ms. Berndt came through in a time of desperate concern.
"I can’t say enough about the quality of their assistance," she said. "It was a time when seconds were important. They were quick to respond and knew what had to be done. They obviously have been well trained."
Ms. Aerts said she worked on her daughter while her friend Jennifer Cino was on the telephone relaying the dispatchers’ instructions.
She said that not only did Ms. Cino work the telephone, but she also kept the other children in the house, a 10-month-old and two 4-year-olds, calm through the whole ordeal.
Ms. Aerts said the Emergency Services and police deserved much credit.
"The dispatchers worked as a team giving us instructions while immediately notifying Emergency Services and police on patrol," she said.
Ms. Aerts said the EMS people were "great."
"Abagail had resumed breathing when they arrived, but there was so much else they did, clearing her passages and treating and monitoring her at our home and on the way to the hospital," she said.
Ms. Aerts said an added benefit to having Ms. Cino at the scene was that she was able to ride in the ambulance with Abagail and see the care that her daughter was given by the EMS crew and the medical personnel at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick.
Ms. Olbrys said it was a team effort from house to hospital, but it started with the dispatchers.
"Officers Berndt and Bell responded professionally in this situation," said Ms. Olbrys, who said she knows something about what they faced because she started in emergency service as a dispatcher.
Ms. Olbrys said police dispatchers and patrol officers, firefighters and ambulance crews are part of an emergency system where everyone plays a role.
"We need each other and I’m glad those two young women were at their posts doing their jobs that day," she said.
The report by Raymond Helge of the Municipal Ambulance Service put the happy ending to the day.
He wrote, "Child was breathing when I arrived. Child treated by Monroe Township First Aid and transported to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (in New Brunswick)."

