Nebraska County to Pay $120K to Settle 911 Wrongful Death Lawsuit

Douglas County, Nebraska, has agreed to pay $120,00 to settle a lawsuit by the family of a woman who died while waiting nearly an hour for rescuers to find her Omaha home after she called 911.

The Douglas County Board voted to approve the settlement with the family of 54-year-old Cristine Herek, the Omaha World-Herald reported.

The wrongful-death lawsuit accused 911 personnel of not taking Herek’s call seriously and of being negligent in failing to find her in time to save her life. Herek called 911 from her home on May 17, 2017, to say she couldn’t breathe because of her asthma, but mistakenly gave the dispatcher her work address. First responders couldn’t find her at the work address and calls to her cell number went unanswered.

By the time officials tracked her to her home — which was just a block away from a fire station — officers found her dead on her front porch.