The triple-0 call came through to the ambulance operation centre in Dubbo about 10.30am and was answered by Ms Stevens who has been an ambulance officer for six years but has only spent nine weeks taking triple-0 calls.

“We get called to a lot of women in labour but 99 times out of 100 they’re only having contractions and the ambulance can get there in time,” Ms Stevens said.

Yesterday’s situation was different because the parents live outside Narrabri and were in the car on the way to the hospital.

“Only part way through the call did we realise the birth was going to happen on the side of the road,” Ms Stevens said.

“It took a while to convince the couple to pull over rather than keep driving.”

The dad said they had been pulled over by the police, who on discovering the woman was in labour, told them to keep going.

She’s no stranger to delivering babies, but Ms Stevens said this was completely different.

“It’s much easier to calm someone in person than over the phone (where) you only have verbal communication to gain their trust,” she said.

The remote location, the imminent birth and the presence of an excited father - and his mother-in-law - resulted in a difficult situation.

“When it comes to babies, it’s easy to panic,” Ms Stevens said.

The job relied on multi-tasking, she said.

While talking to the father, Ms Stevens also had to enter the information into the computer for the dispatchers and the ambulance officers on the scene, which would also be used by the hospital.

“It’s teamwork,” she said.

Helping Ms Stevens through the call was training officer Karl Pirchmoser.

“Our role is to empower the caller and help them take control,” he said.

“The caller is the tool to achieve the desired outcome.”

The birth of a baby girl when the local ambulance officers were still about eight minutes away did not end the challenges.

“There were two complications after the birth and if they didn’t have the telephone support the outcome may not have been as good,” he said.

faye.wheeler@ruralpress.com