SANFORD — When the phone rings at a public safety communications center, the dispatcher who answers never knows what they’ll hear. There might be a house fire, a domestic dispute or a medical problem. A burglar might be breaking into someone’s home.

In one recent case in Sanford, a call came in because a newborn was choking. And while her father, a paramedic, knew what steps to take to help his baby daughter while waiting for an ambulance, it was the reassuring voice of a dispatcher who helped the baby’s mother through the ordeal.

Little Braedyn Watkins, daughter of Brian and Rachel Watkins, was just 1-week-old when she began choking after spitting up.

Brian Watkins said his first thought was to drive the baby to the emergency room, but her symptoms worsened, so his wife called 911 while he suctioned the baby’s airway.

“I was a wreck,” said Rachel Watkins. “It was very nerve-wracking.”

Brian Watkins said their week-old daughter was gagging, and she was having difficulty breathing.

“She could only let out a little cry. Her nose was blocked,” he said.

An ambulance was promptly dispatched and soon the family was on its way to Goodall Hospital. These days, Braedyn is doing fine.

Cheri Smith was the dispatcher who answered the call at Sanford Regional Communications. She and other public safety dispatchers are trained in emergency medical dispatching, providing instructions to help the caller while an ambulance is on the way.

In this case, Smith was told the child’s father was a paramedic, so she shifted gears, concentrating on keeping the mother’s fears at bay and getting updates on the baby’s progress to be relayed to emergency responders. Smith, a dispatcher since 1999, is a mother and said she’d had a similar experience with her baby when her child was 7 weeks old.

“I knew the baby would be okay,” said Smith. She said she could tell the child’s mother was having a difficult time by how she was breathing. She told her to take it slow, to take a deep breath.

At the same time as Smith was taking information from Rachel Watkins about the baby’s symptoms, dispatcher John Lavallee was passing the information on to the rescue squad.

Lavallee and Smith are part of a 21-person crew at Sanford Regional Communications, a public safety dispatch center that serves Sanford, York County Sheriff’s Office and fire and EMS dispatching for a dozen or more rural towns. Soon, it will add Old Orchard Beach to its roster and Kennebunk is expected to be on board this fall.

Across Route 111 at Biddeford Police Department, 12 full-time and one part-time dispatcher handle 911 calls in the city and for Saco, Dayton and Lyman ”“ and dispatching for all but Saco.

As well, there are dispatchers in other communities across the county.

They’re the folks the callers never see, but they’re the first responders in any public safety situation. They take the calls and dispatch police, fire and EMS crews and keep an ear out, making sure the responders are okay, too.

Last August, an expectant mother and her husband were on their way to Mercy Hospital in Portland when nature took its course on Route 111 and a child was born ”“ with the help of Biddeford dispatcher Theresa Waterhouse, who talked the couple through the roadside  delivery.

Biddeford Deputy Police Chief JoAnne Fisk said dispatchers deal with all manner of issues. A recent call prompted the dispatch of an ambulance to a city address, but again, nature took its course.

“The dispatcher stayed on the line while the patient took their last breath,” said Fisk. “(The job) takes an emotional toll.”

Smith, in Sanford, agrees.

“You do what you have to do (on the job) and then break down later,” she said. “It’s stressful, but it’s a good, positive stress. Hopefully, we’re helping people.”

Smith began dispatching with York County Communications, which disbanded in 2009, and came to Sanford Regional Communications in August. She said the job fills all basic needs as outlined by self-help author Tony Robbins: Certainty and comfort, uncertainty and variety, significance, connection and love, growth and contribution.

“You just need to figure out how to handle the stress,” she said.

Lavallee had been in real estate until the recession. Now, on the job for two years, he’s a supervisor on the evening shift.

“I like the constant action, interacting with people in a crisis and helping them through it,” he said. The most frustrating part of the job, he said, is dispatchers do not, in most cases, never know the outcome of calls on which they’ve worked.

Fisk, in Biddeford, said the dispatching crew there is the best in Maine.

R.J. Legere, director of Sanford Regional Communications, said his crew is the “cream of the crop,” the best in New England. Others would likely say their dispatchers are the best in North America.

Next week marks National Telecommunicators Week and officials in Sanford and Biddeford plan to find ways to thank their “angels in headsets,” as dispatchers have been called.

Watkins, a paramedic in Sanford for 12 years, cuddled his daughter close on Wednesday. In an email to Legere, he expressed his thanks.

“I am a strong believer in recognizing people for doing a good job,” he said. “Your job skill in organizing the operations and your call takers and dispatchers for the job they do are top notch as far as my family is concerned. Words cannot express the gratitude I have.”

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 or twells@journaltribune.com.