LAMORINDA WEEKLY | City employee Therese Kain made the right call by dialing 911


Therese Kain on left with Mayor Dawson Photo courtesy City of Lafayette

Mayor Dawson at the council meeting on Feb. 26 recognized Therese Kain for the life-saving actions the engineering department assistant took following a phone call with a Lafayette resident on a day earlier in the month. “It is my pleasure to introduce recognition for Therese Kain, who works in our staff. Therese, with her usual care and due diligence, encountered an unusual circumstance where she acted to help one of our residents in a time of need,” Dawson said in her opening remarks. On Feb. 2, while answering phone calls at the city office’s front counter, Kain was discussing with a resident how to obtain a tree permit. During the conversation, the caller began to have difficulty communicating. Kain quickly became convinced the resident might be having a medical emergency, but the call ended before she could get more information. Her concern led her to pursue the matter, and by searching a Planning Department database, she located the resident’s address. Kain placed an immediate call to 911 and gave the emergency operator the necessary information for sending emergency personnel. The EMT team found the resident, later self-identified at the city council meeting as Claudia Bubeck, at home by herself. She was transported to the hospital where it was determined she had suffered a stroke. Dawson at the recognition ceremony invited public comment and the council first heard from Bubeck herself. She recounted her experience when discussing with Kain information about permitting related to trees on her property. She found herself “saying words that had no relationship to anything else and I was baffled.” Bubeck felt fine and even so, sat down. Minutes later, the EMT’s arrived. At the meeting, Bubeck turned from the podium to face Kain and thanked her for “being so quick on the mark.” Former Mayor Erling Horn spoke second, thanking Kain for her acute perception on the phone and calling her swift actions “remarkable.” Mike Moran, director of engineering and public works, said Kain’s investigative techniques were significant and administrative department assistant Dana Anderson remembered and recognized Kain’s reserve and calmness that day. In presenting the plaque, Dawson read the tribute aloud. Kain thanked all the medical first responder personnel involved, police chief Ben Alldritt, and others, and called it a “once in a lifetime happening.” She thanked the resident for phoning the offices the following week to let staff know she was recovering and offered a tribute to the many “unheralded” 911 workers who assist and protect Lafayette’s citizens.