Georgia Magazine - January 2022 - 14

Currents
News from Georgia's electric co-ops * Compiled by Amy Schneider
Georgia EMC honors cooperatives'
lifesavers
E
ach year at its annual meeting, Tucker-based Georgia
Electric Membership Corp. (EMC) honors cooperative
employees from throughout the state who have taken
actions to rescue people from grave and immediate danger. At
the meeting Nov. 15 at the Hyatt Regency Savannah, eight EMC
employees were honored with the Life Saving Award:
* Jennifer Martin, Coweta-Fayette EMC (based in Palmetto):
Martin noticed a disoriented man in the woods behind the
cooperative's Fayetteville office and reported the situation to
the on-site deputy sheriff. When the officer checked, the man
had disappeared, but Martin saw him again twice that day and
reported him each time, including when he was standing in the
road. Eventually, the deputy was able to get the man to safety
and learned he was an Alzheimer's patient from South Carolina
who had wandered away from a local hospital.
* Brent Loftin Jr., Diverse Power (LaGrange): Loftin was at
the gym for a post-workday workout when he was asked by a
panicking gym manager if he knew CPR. A 59-year-old man's
heart had stopped, and Loftin performed CPR for five to six
minutes until emergency medical technicians arrived and used
a defibrillator. The man survived, and Loftin later was able to
meet the man and his family at the hospital, where they thanked
him for saving the man's life.
* Mark Harkins, Georgia Transmission Corp. (Tucker): While
driving in Middle Georgia, Harkins encountered a young child
in the road. He blocked the road with his vehicle and talked to
the child, who had come from a house nearby. After taking the
child to the house, he noticed what appeared to be a harmful
situation there and reported the case to the local sheriff's office.
* Hunter Rider, GreyStone Power Corp. (Hiram): Rider
heard a loud noise outside his home in the middle of the night
and went outside to discover a wrecked vehicle in a ditch. He
helped the injured driver out of the vehicle shortly before it was
engulfed in flames.
* Kevin Dillon, Oglethorpe Power Corp. (Tucker): Dillon and
his wife witnessed a serious car accident and helped the two injured
occupants out of the upside-down vehicle. Dillon smelled
gas and feared that the car was in danger of catching fire.
* Randy Nixon, Snapping Shoals EMC (Covington): Nixon was
called by his wife into a hair salon, where a man was slumped
in a chair. He performed CPR on the man until the paramedics
arrived and took over. This was not Nixon's first act of heroism.
He previously was involved in rescuing a woman and her child
from a car filling with water. (See " Right place, right time " in the
Currents section of the April 2020 issue at bit.ly/currents0420.)
* Andrew Williams and Matt McDade, Washington EMC
(Sandersville): Williams and McDade were responding to a
power outage at a substation when they noticed a wrecked car
that was barely visible from the road. They helped the injured
14
Georgia Magazine January 2022
Recipients of the Life Saving Award are (front row, from left) Brent
Loftin Jr., Jennifer Martin and Matt McDade; and (back row, from left)
Randy Nixon, Kevin Dillon, Andrew Williams and Hunter Rider.
driver to the street and cared for him until paramedics arrived.
The man had lain on the ground undiscovered for more than
an hour.
In addition to the Life Saving Award, Georgia EMC annually
recognizes EMCs that recorded no lost-time injuries and EMCs
that complete safety certifications.
No Lost Time awards:
* Upson EMC (Thomaston), 13 consecutive years;
* Coastal Electric Cooperative (Midway) and Georgia
Transmission Corp., eight consecutive years;
* Georgia System Operations Corp. (Tucker), six consecutive
years;
* Flint Energies (Reynolds), Habersham EMC (Clarkesville)
and Slash Pine EMC (Homerville), three consecutive years;
* Southern Rivers Energy (Barnesville), two consecutive years;
and
* Excelsior EMC (Metter), Oglethorpe Power Corp. (Tucker)
and Tri-County EMC (Gray), one year.
Safety accreditation honorees:
* Georgia Transmission Corp. earned accreditation through
the Arlington, Va.-based National Rural Electric Cooperative
Association's Rural Electric Safety Accreditation Program.
* Canoochee EMC (Reidsville), Coweta-Fayette EMC,
Diverse Power, Excelsior EMC, Flint Energies, Grady EMC
(Cairo), Georgia System Operations Corp., Georgia Transmission
Corp., Habersham EMC, Jefferson Energy Cooperative
(Wrens), Middle Georgia EMC (Vienna), Ocmulgee EMC
(Eastman), Oconee EMC (Dudley), Rayle EMC (Washington),
Slash Pine EMC and Tri-County EMC achieved accreditation
through the Electric Cooperative Safety Accreditation Program
of Georgia.
CASEY JONES
http://www.bit.ly/currents0420
Georgia Magazine - January 2022

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