OKC 911 Dispatchers Help Save Life Of Woman In Ireland

By Steve Shaw, News 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Some Oklahoma City Emergency Dispatchers are being recognized for a job well-done after an incredible 911 call they received in the middle of the night on March 2.

Dispatchers teamed up to help a woman who called them several times. She claimed to be pregnant, and wanted to kill herself.

"My dispatchers were doing everything in their power to help this woman, and give her some sort of resolution. She was asking for assistance to get out of a lifestyle of prostitution," supervisor Steve Vincent said.

The woman called a non-emergency number, which made it virtually impossible for Oklahoma City dispatchers to track.

"I have no idea how she got us," Vincent said.

However, AT&T stepped in, and traced the woman's call to an area code in Great Britain.

"A lot of times with suicidal people, if you can keep them talking until we can get help there, they're not going to do anything," Vincent said.

Police there tracked the call to the woman's home, which is actually close to a police station in Dublin, Ireland. Police there forced entry into the woman's home, and found her with a stab wound.

"They described it as serious. I think anytime you have a stab wound, especially self inflicted, you always run the potential of serious injury or death," Vincent said.

Basically, Oklahoma City dispatchers probably helped save that woman's life.

"It was a total team effort," Vincent said.

This week is National Telecommunicator Week. The City of Oklahoma City plans to recognize Steve Vincent and dispatchers who were involved in the life-saving effort.