By EMS1 Staff
CAPE CORAL, Fla. — A dispatcher helped save a man who was suffering a stroke while on a road trip after his daughter called 911.
NBC 2 reported that Cape Coral dispatcher Ashley Holtzlander received a call from Emily Hammer, who was concerned after speaking with her father, 20-year veteran firefighter-paramedic Gary Conner, while he made his yearly trip from Wisconsin to Florida.
“I said do you know where you are at? And he said big town,” Hammer said. “I talked to my husband, and he said call 911, and I said what are they going to do we don’t even know where he’s at.”
That’s when Hammer got in touch with Holtzlander, who asked for his location.
“I said somewhere between Wisconsin and Florida,” Hammer said.
Holtzlander pinged his cellphone location, which came up as Bloomington, Illinois, according to Hammer.
Illinois police were given a description of Conner’s truck and spotted him on the road.
“He was able to maintain his lane and was driving at a safe speed, but I did a traffic stop to check his welfare,” Trooper Luke Dorsey said. “It was immediately apparent to me that he was disoriented, so I made a decision to relocate him to my squad car.”
Conner was transported to the hospital, and is now back home and thanking first responders for their swift action. He said he hopes his story can help prevent others from future danger.