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Oakland 911 Dispatcher Honored for Coaching Father Through Surprise Home Birth

The Oakland Fire Department presented a Stork Pin at a Friday ceremony marking her first coached delivery before crews arrived.

Overview

  • On Feb. 12 around 11:45 a.m., dispatcher Monica Rios guided Martin Diller as his wife, Ricki Dorman, delivered their son, Jack, during an unplanned home birth.
  • Firefighters from Engine 8 arrived minutes later—about 10 minutes, according to the department—and transported the mother and newborn to the hospital.
  • Both mother and baby were reported to be doing well after the delivery, and the parents later asked to meet the dispatcher who helped them.
  • Friday’s event was the family’s first in-person meeting with Rios, where the department recognized her role with a Stork Pin.
  • Rios said dispatchers train for childbirth calls and that this was the first delivery she has guided to completion in her six-year career; she was pregnant at the time.