VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — For the first time, we're hearing the actual 911 conversation with an 11-year-old Virginia Beach girl who performed CPR on her dad who was having a massive heart attack.
For this interview, I met with dispatcher David Fowler and Vada Carawan at the Virginia Beach dispatch center. It was their first time meeting in person, but the two were already somewhat acquainted, as Fowler is the dispatcher who answered Vada's 911 call.
Watch previous coverage: Virginia Beach girl scout saves dad's life with CPR during heart attack
Vada immediately dialed 911 after her father, Clinton Carawan, collapsed to the ground. Fowler remembers the call very well.
Listen to a portion of that call:
Here is part of the transcription from the phone call:
Fowler: "Okay, you said your father has passed out on the floor, and you're not sure if he's having a heart attack."
Vada: "Yes, yes, sir."
Fowler: "But is he breathing?"
Vada: "Yes, he's like—he's snoring."
Fowler: "He's snoring?"
Fowler says when he heard that, that set off alarm bells in his mind.
"They train us that that's what's called agonal breathing — which is a bad thing for a heart attack, and he's really not breathing," he explained.
Watch previous coverage: After a Virginia Beach man had a massive heart attack with no warning, an expert weighs in on prevention
Fowler knew the clock was ticking—which is evident in that 911 call.
Fowler: "We might need you to do CPR. Are you willing to help out?"
Vada: "Yes, sir."
When I asked Vada what she remembered about that 911 conversation with Fowler, she responded, "I was in between of tearing up and saving my dad's life, because I knew that's what I had to do."
Fowler remembers it as well, saying, "I just remember hearing a really, really young voice that was a little scared, but amazingly still very poised. She knew she had to help."
Watch related coverage: 11-year-old girl scout recounts saving her father's life with CPR
When we first interviewed Vada, she told us how she learned CPR in Girl Scouts. In fact, she learned the life-saving skill less than two weeks before her father's massive heart attack.
Although she was taught CPR, the phone call shows how helpful it was to have Fowler walking her through the process step-by-step.
Fowler: "You ready to go?"
Carawan: "Yes, sir."
Fowler: "All right. And start. 1, 2, 3, 4."
Fowler admits he's had similar calls where he's had to talk someone through the steps of CPR. But has it ever involved an 11-year-old girl?
"Not that I can necessarily remember, no," he responded. "That's what made it a little bit more amazing... A lot of the calls that involve adults... they're freaking out a lot more than this 11-year-old did."
Watch: Extended conversations with Vada and the dispatcher
For information on learning CPR, click here
