Aurelius girl who called 911 for her father honored by Cayuga County sheriff

Alivia Schroeder was recognized Thursday by the Cayuga County Sheriff’s Office after calling county 911 dispatchers when her father Maison Schroeder had a seizure on Nov. 17. She was greeted by officials and staff at the county public safety building in Sennett, accompanied by Maison, her sister, Layla, and her grandparents, Stephen and Kathy Gould.

Cayuga County Sheriff Brian Schenck named Alivia a junior deputy and presented her with a certificate.

“You are my hero,” Schenck told him.

Denise Spingler, the county 911 administrator, reading from another certificate, said: “In recognition of your heroic actions in calling 911, you remained calm and provided the dispatcher with all appropriate information to assist your father. Your call surprised us and we are all very proud of you.”

Alivia’s eyes lit up like fireworks when Spingler gave her a red balloon with “911” written on it and a bag containing a Squishmallow stuffed animal, a coloring book and crayons. The girl then spoke with Deputy Nikki Loveless, who responded to the scene, Denise Cornelius, communications training manager at the county’s 911 center, and McKenna Loerzel, a dispatcher who is receiving training at the 911 center Cornelius and Loerzel, who responded to Alivia’s call, praised the young girl’s calmness.

After Alivia had her photo taken with the various staff members, she and her family were brought to the 911 center, where she was introduced to other 911 dispatchers, with Schenck once again calling her a hero. Aliva was also able to sit in a dispatcher chair. Later, Alivia, holding the ball tightly, and her family talked with the sheriff, Spingler, Cornelius, Loveless, and Loerzel.

When Loveless learned around 11 a.m. Nov. 17 that a 6-year-old girl was on the line calling on behalf of her unconscious father, her heart sank, she said. Emergency medical personnel were on scene when Loveless arrived, and after Maison was taken by ambulance, she stayed with Alivia and Layla until Stephen and Kathy arrived, as Maison and her daughters had stayed with them. Loveless praised Alivia’s response to the situation.

“Imagine being 6 years old and being calm and collected. They said she gives good information, but you still want to get there (at the scene),” Loveless said.

At one point, Alivia was asked who taught her how to call 911. She said it was her mother, Sara Green. Maison said he started having seizures as an adult and they had gotten worse over the past year. He was lying in a recliner at Stephen and Kathy’s home in Aurelius when this seizure occurred and he passed out. In a soft voice, Alivia explained that when her father began having seizures, she found her father’s cell phone plugged into a charger next to him.

When Cornelius and Loerzel received Alivia’s call, she told them that her father was drooling and shaking. They asked him if he was breathing and Alivia said yes. As he was in a recliner, the girl pressed a button that caused the chair to recline, opening Maison’s airway. Cornelius and Loerzel noted that they could hear Maison breathing during the call. He began to wake up when help arrived. Loerzel, who started with the center in September, and Cornelius said Alivia gave relevant information, such as her name, her father’s name, and said they were at her grandparents’ house and gave the name of his grandfather.

“You were super, super strong, you knew exactly what to do and you did it,” Spingler told Alivia.

Maison said Alivia told her friends about the situation at school the next day. He praised his daughter’s intelligence and said he was “grateful every night” that Alivia may have saved his life.

Cornelius said she was impressed with how Alivia and Loerzel handled the situation and spoke about the importance of educating children about emergency calls, including giving dispatchers the address of where to go. produces the emergency they are calling about.

“It just goes to show that people should educate their children about 911,” Cornelius said.