EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. — If you have to call 911 in El Paso County, Courtney Zohrlaut may be the one who answers. And if you have to deliver a baby, she's just who you want to pick up.
"I have actually been through three deliveries so far and delivered four babies successfully," she said.
Each baby came fast. She talked to us about a recent call where she helped deliver twins.
Caller: My wife thinks she is going into labor.
Zohrlaut: OK.
Zohrlaut: I'm going to tell you how to help deliver the baby.
Caller: OK.
Less than five minutes later they — yes, they — were out.
Caller: They're both out.
Zohrlaut: They're both?
Caller: Both of them are out.
Zohrlaut: Two babies are out?!
Caller: Yes.
Zohrlaut: Are both babies crying and breathing?
Caller: Yes. They're fine.
Zohrlaut: OK, two babies. OK, congratulations to you guys.
Zohrlaut: Both are girls? OK, congratulations you guys. I'm going to keep giving you some more directions while help is coming, OK?
"Everybody in the room looked at me and some people stood up to see me, too," Zohrlaut said. "They said, 'Did she really just say both?... Finding out what the genders of the babies, too, was really special for me — hearing they had two little girls. It was really special because on my previous births, I was so caught up in the moment, in the adrenaline, I forgot to ask that."
She said calls like this one are the kinds that she looks forward to.
"We are usually talking to people on the worst day of their life, but these are the best days of their life, so it's really amazing to be a part of that when a lot of times we can be involved in stuff that is super dark," Zohrlaut said.
Thankfully, this call has a happy ending as she shares life's most precious moments with the strangers on the other end of the line.
Zohrlaut was nominated for the Dispatcher of the Year Award with the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch. The awards ceremony will happen at the end of May.