Clark
Energy
Teaching
Electric Safety to the Rescue Experts
December 1996
One Saturday this
fall, Ralph Ladson spent the hours of 2 a.m. to 5 a.m. battling a
barn blaze with fellow members of the Clark County Fire Department.
They just had time to get cleaned up before a training session on
electric safety, held by Clark Rural Electric Cooperative, in
Winchester.
“It was
Saturday night before I got any sleep,” says Ladson, who is Fire
Marshal with the Clark County Fire Department. But the half-day
safety session was well worth attending, he says.
Some 30 area fire
and rescue workers came to the session, titled “Electric Hazards
for First Responders.” It came together as a result of discussions
among fire and emergency workers and people at Clark Rural Electric
Cooperative.
“The people who
respond to fires and other emergencies have wanted this kind of
training for a long time, but they haven’t had the opportunity,”
says Overt Carroll, president and CEO of Clark REC. “We stress
employee training and safety, and felt it was important that we
share our knowledge and training background. This was something we
could do on behalf of the communities in our area.”
Clark Electric
Co-op is the consumer-owned utility that distributes electricity to
more than 21,000 homes and businesses in the 12 counties around
Winchester.
The idea behind
the session was that when fire and rescue workers arrive at a scene,
there can be deadly electric hazards they may not know about. Rescue
workers should at least know what the potential dangers are, and
should know when to wait for assistance from the electric utility.
One especially
appreciative attendee was Gary Epperson, Winchester/Clark County
disaster emergency services coordinator. I can't say enough
for Clark Rural Electric for putting this on” says Epperson. “I like
anything that might make my job safer and might keep somebody from
getting hurt.”
“We hope that
in this first session we gave people enough information to make the
best decisions at the scene,” says Overt Carroll. “We hope this
might help save some lives.”-Paul Wesslund |
