Deputy Krista Becker said she was filling out reports when the call for assistance came. She met the expectant mother, and her friend who was driving her to the hospital, on Highway 83 North.

“That’s just kind of where everything started to happen on the side of the road,” she said.

Becker had graduated from Alexandria Technical Community College in Minnesota, where she was trained as a first responder. She said she has seen a lot in her 10 years as a law officer, and has observed births, so attending this birth didn’t unsettle her.

“It’s natural,” she said. “Just help them breathe and stay with them. The ambulance got there and all of us just kind of worked together.”

Jill Schramm/MDN Reserve deputies Kyle Miller, David DePriest and Cortney Rennock, from left, look over their pins and certificates presented Wednesday by Sheriff Robert Roed, right. They completed the county’s Reserve Deputy Program, they received training in firearms, traffic and criminal law, use of force, search and seizure, ethics and defensive tactics.

Things moved quickly, with the ambulance arriving just as the baby was making an entrance into the world.

“I was very glad the ambulance got there so she could have a safe and private place,” Becker said, noting the ambulance staff had the larger role. “Community Ambulance/Trinity – they did a good job. They made the official ending catch there. It took all of us, but I was excited to be a part of it.”

“To be able to say the time of birth was pretty awesome, and I’m the one that got to give that, so that was pretty cool – a special moment,” she added.

Becker later visited the mother, and met the father, at Trinity Hospital. She had taken photos at the birth to pass on to the couple. For reasons of privacy, she is limited in information she can disclose other than that the parents had Air Force ties.

“A cool and neat experience,” she said of an emergency call that turned out well.

Sheriff Robert Roed presented the award on behalf of Trinity Health and the Sheriff’s Department. Becker had been nominated for an Early Bird Award through the state Division of Emergency Medical Systems by Carter Gage with Trinity First Response Ground.

Roed also swore in reserve deputies Cortney Rennock, David DePriest and Kyle Miller upon their graduation from the Ward County Sheriff’s Department Reserve Deputy Program and swore in Haley Owen as the newest deputy in the department.