Kasey Campbell
Shelby County (IA) EMA/911

* A note from 911 CARES:

This has been a sad month friends. There have been 4 dispatchers that have died in the last month and one seriously injured in an accident during the APCO conference. I know it is VERY taxing to read these sad activations and I want to praise you all for helping to support your co-workers in their time of sadness or loss. Please send a card or letter to Shelby County or e-mail kandis@shco.org to share your sorrow. Below is the e-mail we received today.

Dear 911 CARES:

I have met you in person and attended many of your well needed humorous classes.  Today I write you on a serious and sad day.  We lost a member of our dispatch family this week.  Kasey Campbell was a 1 year veteran of our “family” but worked as an EMD in Colorado prior to joining us.  He had more heart and driving humor than most others of his young age of 28 that I have worked with.  He was my regular shift partner, and we grew to be fast friends.  We had talked several times about working in a smaller rural area, and how hard it would be to work a call of a friend or family member.  He felt safe from that issue working in the large city setting of Colorado Springs.  Little did we know that his shift partner would be the one trying to talk his family members through C.P.R. with the EMD system we have all used a million times. The words came and the procedures were done, but the outcome was not what any of us wanted.  Kasey passed away, a short life ended too soon. 

We will remember Kasey as all family members are remembered.  We wanted to extend our thanks to you and all your company does for this wonderful, sometimes thankless job that we all love.  The words of wisdom and much needed humor, and a tear or two shared along the way, are a lifesaver for each of us.  Please share a prayer with us in remembrance of a member we will all miss in our “family of dispatch”.

Thanks again.

Kandi Schlensig
Shelby County Ema/911
612 Court St.
Harlan, Iowa 51537