A 911 operator is being recognized for her calm approach to helping a stabbing victim in Macomb Township.
The stabbing happened Feb. 6 in the Camelot Villa mobile home park.
Macomb County Sheriff Anthony Wickersham said the 68-year-old victim called 911 after being stabbed with a hunting knife by his roommate.
The operator on the other end of the call is relatively new, having only worked a year in dispatch.
The call lasted 10 minutes and 29 seconds.
Operator: "What's going on today?"
Victim: "I've been stabbed."
Operator: "You've been stabbed? By who?"
Victim: "My friend."
Wickersham said the victim had been stabbed 14 times in the chest, abdomen, arms and face. He called 911 from under the kitchen table, where he had been hiding.
Operator: "They are on the way, OK? I just want you to stay calm for me. Ok? Are there any clean towels or anything there?"
Victim: "Yes."
There are moments during the 911 call when the victim tells the operator his attacker is still walking around the home, carrying the knife.
Operator: "If that him in the background?"
Victim: "Yes, that's him again."
Operator: "If you don't feel safe, I just want you to stay on the phone with me. You don't have to talk to me if you don't feel safe, OK?"
The victim stays quiet. The operator is heard asking him repeatedly if he's OK.
After eight minutes, help arrived.
"She was able to keep the victim calm, gain as much info as to where the suspect was, and was everything dispatchers are supposed to do," Wickersham said.
The victim is hospitalized in critical condition.
The roommate, 54-year-old Ronald Roude, has been charged with attempted murder.