Cherokee County 911 recognizes dispatchers for on-phone CPR, births and a meritorious service call

Cherokee County 911 Director Shane Bonebrake presented awards to dispatch staff at the Board of Commissioners work session on Jan. 21, 2025, recognizing multiple verified CPR saves, a series of on-phone childbirths and a meritorious service award for two communication officers whose actions accompanied emergency responders to a child who had been shot.

Bonebrake opened the presentation by praising staff and explaining the awards program. “This is my favorite day of the year,” he said, describing two types of recognition: large acrylic awards for verified CPR saves and smaller awards for on-phone deliveries. He said the CPR saves are tracked through hospital verification and follow-up by the agency’s quality-assurance manager.

Why this matters: county officials said the honors reflect cases in which 911 instruction and coordination directly changed outcomes. Bonebrake and others cited multiple examples, including several on-phone deliveries and a high-profile 2023 shooting call where dispatcher actions were credited with helping sustain a critically injured child until responders arrived.

The presentation included counts and examples provided by Bonebrake and other staff. He said the center “delivered 9 babies this year” and described a larger number of CPR-related life saves represented by the big acrylic awards; the board chair called the group’s impact “20 or more” people who likely would not have survived without the call-taker instructions. Bonebrake explained that the CPR life-save designation requires hospital confirmation and QA review.

Bonebrake gave special attention to a single 911 call on Oct. 13, 2023, that he said demonstrated “extraordinary composure, professionalism and guidance while acting under stress.” On that call, a 4-year-old boy had been shot and the child’s mother and father were in extreme distress. Bonebrake described how one dispatcher (identified in the presentation as Cassie) obtained an address, maintained contact while coordinating responders and then took information from the child’s grandmother. Another dispatcher (identified as Brittney) spoke with the child’s father, walked him through first-aid steps to control bleeding and relayed medical details to responders.

Bonebrake said the combined dispatch work, rapid resource assignment and subsequent EMS and air-transport response took the child to Scottish Rite Trauma Center within the “golden hour.” “Because of your actions, Cassie and Brittney, Jake McCoy is alive today and is walking, talking and a miracle,” Bonebrake said during the presentation. The family joined the meeting briefly so staff could present tokens of appreciation.

County officials and the audience gave the dispatched staff a standing ovation. Bonebrake emphasized the verification process for the CPR awards and the role of the QA manager in tracking hospital outcomes.

The recognition did not require board action. Commissioners heard the presentation as part of the work-session agenda before moving on to planned public hearings and other items.