From Inside Sheppard AFB
SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas — Working in the world of emergency response means there are very few “normal” days at the office. For Jason Dandurand, May 10 was anything but a routine day.
Dandurand, an emergency dispatcher with the Sheppard Air Force Base Fire Department, was working his shift at approximately 6:39 p.m. when he received a phone call most dispatchers dread.
“I picked up the 9-1-1 line and the female caller was hysterical,” Dandurand said. “It didn’t take me long to realize something was terribly wrong.”
A 3-year-old child had wandered out the back door of an off-base residence in Wichita Falls and had fallen in the swimming pool. The child’s grandmother was able to get the girl out of the pool and was administering life-saving CPR.
“I asked for her address and as soon as she gave it to me, I was able to transfer the call to the Wichita Falls emergency dispatchers,” Dandurand said. “It took only 10-15 seconds from the initial call pick-up to the time I was transferring the call downtown.”
In the medical world, 10-15 seconds can easily be the difference between life and death.