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Children honoured for making life-saving calls

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Given his recent experience with STARS air ambulance, paramedics and even Fish and Wildlife workers, it’s a bit ironic Cole Domville is set on a career in policing. 

“His nickname is Constable Cole and that’s what he wants to be. Our motto at home is safety first and he makes sure everyone does the right thing,” said Russ Domville, the seven year old boy’s father.

Cole Domville, 7, holds his 9-1-1 Heroes Award.

Cole Domville, 7, holds his 9-1-1 Heroes Award.

Cole clearly did the right thing in dealing with emergency responders when he and his father came across an injured man while quading in Kananaskis Country.

The boy was among eight youngsters honoured Friday at the city’s 9-1-1 Heroes Awards Ceremony. The youth, aged seven to 15, called emergency dispatch last year when family members and even strangers were in distress. They were nominated by the emergency communications officer who took their call or by police or fire who wanted to recognize them as heroes.

Cole was awarded for staying calm and relaying information between 9-1-1 and his dad, who tended to the man who’d been crushed by his quad and was going into shock.

“I went on the phone and talked to them until they got there. I had to ask my dad questions about the guy and then STARS came and Fish and Wildlife and fire.”

While the boy was more interested in his hero trophy and trying out a police sergeant’s baton and handcuffs at the event at Telus Spark, his dad was teary-eyed as his spoke about his son’s actions that day.”

“There were several police officers, Fish and Wildlife, several detachments of fire departments arrived, then the helicopter came. So it was pretty overwhelming, pretty congested, very tense situation,” said Russ Domville. “Cole was quiet and calm and he wasn’t shy. He didn’t get nervous and he was able to communicate to 9-1-1. I’m pretty proud of him.”

Another youngster celebrated Friday for keeping a level head in an emergency was Madison Congdon, 9. She may come by it naturally as her father is a city firefighter.

She was at home when her mother started having vision problems and numbness in her legs.

“She said my dad had to come home and I needed to call 9-1-1. My mom was having some sort of stroke and numbness, and her left side felt like it was asleep.

“I felt really scared because my dad is a firefighter and I didn’t have him there and I wondered ‘Am I going to do this all by myself?’ So I called him and he told me to do all these steps.”

Madison’s mom Cindy is grateful her daughter remained calm. “She did wonderful. She did exactly what she needed to do. She was on one land line with (her dad) and on another phone with dispatch. He coached her through it.

“It was very frightening but I’ve got 100 per cent confidence in her that put in an emergency situation she would know how to handle it.”

Recipients of 9-1-1 Heroes Awards pose with Mayor Naheed Nenshi and representatives from Calgary's emergency services at a ceremony at Telus Spark on April 8, 2016. The 9-1-1 Heroes Awards honour children who helped someone in need by calling 9-1-1.

Recipients of 9-1-1 Heroes Awards with Mayor Naheed Nenshi and representatives from Calgary’s emergency services at a ceremony at Telus Spark on April 8, 2016. The awards honour children who helped someone in need by calling 9-1-1.

Calgary 9-1-1 commander Richard Hinse said there were more than one million calls to 9-1-1 last year which equates to more than 3,000 calls every day. He thanked the youths for their quick thinking and heroic actions.

“I can tell you that not everyone knows when it’s the right time to call 9-1-1 but each of our heroes today did just that. You called 9-1-1 for someone who was probably having the worst day of their life. You served as the link between them and the help they needed.

“We can only hope when the time comes to choose a job when you get a little older, you’ll consider working for one of us … (emergency responder) jobs are never easy but your actions tell me you might already have the right stuff.”

Other children honoured were:

Cali Dillon, 11, who called 9-1-1 when her diabetic mom fell unconscious;

Miske Hassan, 10, who called when her sister fell unconscious, turned red and started seizing;

Kayden White, 11, and Beckham White, 9: who alerted their mom to smoke in their condominium;

Macy Yoon, 15, who called 9-1-1- when she noticed a young boy, about five, all alone on a CTrain, wearing a dirty T-shirt and no pants. He couldn’t speak English. Although there were adults on the train, Yoon was the only one to tend to the boy and call for help; and

Jade, 13, who called for help when she was home alone and heard someone trying to break into the house. 

Awards were presented by Mayor Nenshi, the nominating ECO, Calgary 9-1-1 Commander Richard Hinse, Calgary Fire Chief Steve Dongworth, Calgary Police Service Deputy Chief Sat Parhar and Acting Director Anne MacDonald, Alberta Health Services EMS Dispatch, Communications and Deployment, Southern Communications Centre.

The city has designated April 10-16 as public safety telecommunications week.

 


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