Blake Dunsbergen stands with his wife, Cathryn, and children Baylor and Penelope after being recognized with the American Heart Association Heartsaver Hero Award for his part in a 2023 medical emergency with the Pella Community Ambulance Department.
Blake Dunsbergen, of Sully, was recently honored during a ceremony on Thursday, Aug. 28, for the exemplary and life-saving efforts he and a team of Pella emergency personnel provided to two area residents in cardiac incidents.
The ceremony recognized 15 heroes who helped save two lives in two separate incidents. Dunsbergen was one of five personnel to receive the American Heart Association Heartsaver Hero Award for his part in reviving a 43-year-old man north of Pella in October of 2023, and a second honor for his part in saving a Pella woman after she collapsed during the 2025 Kloppen Classic. According to Greg Higginbotham, Pella Community Ambulance Director, a full recovery from cardiac arrest and heart attacks are difficult, especially when every second counts in an emergency response. The quick times of the Pella Ambulance team helped improve the chances for the people in need.
Dunsbergen has always had a heart to serve others. He started volunteering for the Sully Ambulance Department at the same time he was working from home as a Grinnell Mutual employee. During that time, he found himself “waiting for ambulance calls.” Knowing he wanted to be a source of help and hope to those in their darkest times of need, Dunsbergen and his wife, Cathryn, made the decision to for him to pursue EMS as a full-time occupation.
He initially joined the Pella Community Ambulance crew in 2021 as a PRN EMT. In October of 2023, Dunsbergen turned in his resignation to Grinnell Mutual to launch into full-time service in emergency response. “Once starting full-time at Pella Ambulance, I felt that in order to help in greater capacity, I needed to go back to school to get my paramedic,” he said. Dunsbergen started school in September of 2024 and is currently finishing up classes at Mercy College in Des Moines in hopes of being a certified paramedic soon. He is still a volunteer member of the Sully Rural Fire and Ambulance Department and encourages anyone interested in getting involved to contact [email protected].
