Date: Wednesday, September 2, 1998

Location:    Council Chambers
                    Dallas City Hall, Sixth Floor
                    1500 Marilla Street

Details:

On September 2,1998, Lt. David Henry, Fire Dispatch Supervisor for the Dallas Fire Department, was recognized by the Dallas City Council for the knowledge, support, and composure he demonstrated in order to save the life of then three-years-old Lauren McKay.

On June 16, 1997, Lauren fell into her great aunt's pool while visiting relatives in North Dallas. When recovered from the pool, the child had turned blue, and had stopped breathing. Lt. Henry received the call and, while, dispatching an ambulance to the location, provided lifesaving instructions to the great aunt, Connie Dobson, who had no previous knowledge of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). By the time the ambulance arrived less than four minutes later, firefighter/paramedics Daniel DeYear and Mike Prelle found relatives crying tears of relief, and a three-year-old - breathing on her own.

Mrs. Dobson and the McKays have since visited Lt. Henry at Fire Station No. 7, from which the ambulance was dispatched, and have attended the Annual Awards Banquet, at which Lt. Henry was honored as the Dallas Fire Department's Dispatcher of the Year for 1997. In addition, Lt. Henry was named as State Telecommunicator of the Year [for 1997] by the Texas Advisory Commission on State Emergency Communications.

Lt. David Henry has been with the Dallas Fire Department since January 6, 1975. He has 13 years experience in the Fire Department's Dispatch Center.

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Date: September 2, 1998
Time: 09:00 AM

Contact:   Barbara Block, PIO
Office:     214-670-7949

Last revised: September 2, 1999.

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