01/24/2026
🌟🌟🌟🌟 Job well done Dessa!! Thank you for being prepared and willing to Save a Life!🌟🌟🌟🌟❤️
Dessa Noonan was sitting in mass with her daughter on her lap when she noticed a man slumping over two rows ahead.
When she reached his pew, the man was changing color, not alert and his eyes were fluttering. She called 911. Usually, she’d be on the other end of the line – Dessa is a Sarpy County dispatcher.
As emergency crews were in route to the church, Dessa began chest compressions, while bystanders retrieved an AED. An off-duty Omaha firefighter-EMT took over chest compressions when Dessa used the AED to administer an electric shock, resetting the man’s heart rhythm.
Papillion Fire Chief Robb Gottsch visited the county’s 911 Center earlier this month to present Dessa with an award for her lifesaving care.
"Your immediate response and skillful intervention contributed to the patient being alert and oriented prior to the arrival of the Papillion Fire Department,” he told Dessa. “It’s actions like yours that exemplify the positive impact citizens can have in making their community a safer place to live and work.”
The Sarpy County emergency communications team is trained to recognize signs of a cardiac event as part of their emergency medical dispatch protocols, and it’s not uncommon for a dispatcher to provide CPR instructions to callers waiting for first responders.
“It was an out-of-body experience. I’m thankful that I have been trained so effectively to be able to use those skills in a real-world, in-person scenario,” Dessa said. “It’s a testament to Sarpy's program that we can apply our training even outside the dispatch environment.”
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https://www.sarpy.gov/m/newsflash/home/detail/410
