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9-1-1 director honors dispatchers for life-saving CPR and childbirth assistance
Summary
Cherokee County 9-1-1 Director Shane Bonebrake presented Life Save and CPR awards recognizing dispatchers whose CPR instructions led to verified hospital arrivals with pulse and highlighted nine in-field deliveries in 2024, including a public acknowledgment of five-year-old Luke McCoy.
Shane Bonebrake, Cherokee County’s 9-1-1 director, opened the Board of Commissioners work session by presenting awards to dispatchers whose emergency guidance helped bring patients to the hospital alive and to several staff credited with on-scene deliveries.
"I love coming in front of you and bragging on my staff," Bonebrake said as he described the awards program. He said the larger acrylic awards mark verified CPR saves — cases where dispatchers coached callers, the patient arrived at the hospital with a pulse verified by EMS Chief Sullivan and hospital staff, and a QA manager followed the patient through recovery. "So they arrive with a pulse," he said.
Bonebrake also highlighted nine instances in 2024 when dispatchers guided callers through childbirth before first responders arrived. He named multiple dispatchers and reported that the department verified each event through hospital follow-up: "We literally brought 9 babies into the world this year," he said.
The presentation culminated with a recognition of the McCoy family and a brief appearance by five-year-old Luke McCoy, whom Bonebrake said had been the subject of a particularly harrowing call in October 2023. Bonebrake described the dispatchers’ role during a case in which a child had been critically injured, praising "calm and steady" radio and dispatch performance that helped coordinate air life and ground resources within the golden hour. "Because of your actions ... Luke McCoy is alive today and is walking, talking and a miracle," Bonebrake said.
The board gave the dispatchers a standing ovation; Chair Mr. Morton thanked the team and noted the presentation underscored the county’s public-safety mission. The awards segment closed before the board moved into its agenda items.
