Crime & Safety
Baby Born in Apartment Lobby Meets Dispatcher
Ryan Ann Carpenter was working as a dispatcher at the Waukesha Police Department when she received a call from an expecting father. Little Peter Demeter was on his way, and he wasn't waiting for paramedics for his birth.
When Peter Demeter was born on April 1, his family thought his birth story was an April Fool’s Day joke.
After all, his mother, Audrey Demeter, had to be induced when his older brother William was born in August 2011. And she wasn’t due until April 11.
Baby Peter had other plans, though.
Audrey and her husband, Josh, were following their birthing checklist as they prepared for Peter’s birth. At the first sign of labor, they grabbed the keys and headed out their apartment door.
“We were already ready,” Audrey said. “We were on our way to the hospital. My water broke in the elevator and I got to the front door and told Josh to call 911.”
Josh called 911 for Waukesha paramedics to respond. On the other line, City of Waukesha Dispatcher Ryan Ann Carpenter stood ready with help.
Audrey needed to lie down, Carpenter told Josh. Peter was on his way. Two minutes later, he was born in the lobby of his parents’ apartment building.
The Waukesha Fire Department was just down the road, but when they arrived, Carpenter had already talked Josh through the birth of his second son.
“It was awesome,” Josh said. “I had good guidance and luckily it went real smooth – as smooth as it can go. It was pretty remarkable.”
When Carpenter first trained to be a dispatcher and learned how to walk callers through the childbirth process, she viewed walking a parent through childbirth as a pinnacle moment of a dispatcher’s career. She’s had one other childbirth call that ultimately was turned over to paramedics, but she walked Josh all the way through Peter’s delivery without any problems.
“It is pretty amazing,” said a smiling Carpenter. “When I first went through training … I thought ‘Oh, that is so what I want to do. That is the coolest thing ever.’ The first one that I delivered was not anywhere near my expectations whatsoever. And then he came along. It was perfect.”
She even suggested Josh tie the umbilical cord off with a shoestring. In a hurry and unable to get his shoelace out of his shoes, Audrey and Peter were transported to the hospital with a shoe hanging by the laces from the umbilical cord.
Carpenter met the Demeters on Monday during a special awards presentation when Police Chief Russell Jack presented her with a Letter of Commendation. Both Carpenter and Josh were presented a blue stork patch to signify a successful child birth.
Dispatchers typically don’t have the chance to meet the people they helped. But the Demeters wanted to meet Carpenter as much as she wanted to meet them and hold little Peter.
“It makes it all worth it,” she told the Demeters.
The following is Chief Jack’s letter of commendation he gave to Carpenter for her work during Peter’s birth:
On April 1, 2013 you received a 911 call from a male stating that his wife was in labor and he was going to transport her to the hospital. Before they could make it to their car, the male stated that the labor was progressing quickly and they wouldn’t make it to the hospital. Within two minutes of the time of call, the baby was delivered in the lobby of the apartment building.
Through your calm and effective ability to provide Emergency Medical Dispatch, you gave childbirth instructions to the father, over the phone, who was able to deliver his own child. You continued to provide care to the baby and instructed the father to tie off the umbilical cord and keep mom and baby comfortable until the Fire Department arrived moments later.
Thank you for providing quality dispatch/EMD services to the Department, and to the community, for the past 10 years of service.
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