So often in law enforcement deputies and dispatchers handle one lifesaving call only to move onto the next; leaving behind an unfinished story.
Sometimes there is no conclusion, no closure.
However, last month a group of Sheriff’s Department deputies and dispatchers received the happy ending they’d been missing from a March 29 call in Villa Park.
Dispatchers Wendy Jurgensen and Katie Howard fielded the call at about 2 a.m. on March 29 in response to a 62-year-old man unresponsive and possibly having a heart attack. They stayed on the phone, guiding family members on how to respond while quickly dispatching deputies to the location.
When Deputies Dominguez and Gardner arrived, the man wasn’t breathing and had no pulse. They pulled him from the bed and began multiple rounds of CPR until paramedics arrived to take over and transport the victim to the hospital.
The deputies didn’t know if their actions were enough. In the days that followed, they Googled his name to see if there were any news reports sharing the outcome from that night, but they didn’t find anything.
Sometimes no news is good news.
The deputies and dispatchers would learn their actions that day would mean the man – Bruce Furniss, a two-time Olympic gold medalist in swimming, husband and father of four – would survive.
Furniss, along with his wife and children, met with the deputies and dispatchers to express his gratitude for their actions that day.
He passed out mini bundt cakes to the group, wishing he could do more.
“I know this probably isn’t enough for saving my life, but I wanted to do something,” he told them.
The group said they were grateful the Furniss family took the time to reach out and meet with them.
“It was nice to see him,” said Deputy Gardner. “We never would have known if he survived. We always are just on to the next call.”
