Baldwin EMC Chief Executive Officer E.A. “Bucky” Jakins, Jr. (center) presents Power and Hope Awards to Steve Lynn (left) and Paul Lores.
Baldwin EMC Chief Executive Officer E.A. “Bucky” Jakins, Jr. (center) presents Power and Hope Awards to (from left) Shawn Miller, Gary Dueitt, Shelton Singley and David Hammock.
Baldwin EMC Chief Executive Officer E.A. “Bucky” Jakins, Jr. (right) presents a Power and Hope Award to Cary Roley.
On October 13, Baldwin EMC honored seven employees for heroic actions in life-threatening situations. The men were each given a Baldwin EMC Touchstone Energy Power and Hope Award, which was created to honor cooperative employees who go beyond the call of duty to help those in need.
Baldwin EMC employees Paul Lores, service technician and Steve Lynn, line technician, were recognized for their actions during the widespread flooding that took place in Baldwin County last April. The two were in the process of responding to outages when they came across two women with a baby walking down a dark, flooded street. Lores and Lynn described the women and child as “wet, cold and hysterical.” The Baldwin EMC employees gave the three a ride to the nearest service station and waited with them until help arrived.
During that same time period, four more Baldwin EMC employees were responding to a request from a local fire department to disconnect power at a flooded home so the family inside could be rescued. However, when line crew members Gary Dueitt, David Hammock, Shawn Miller and Shelton Singley arrived at the home, the fire department was unable to complete the rescue. That’s when the Baldwin EMC employees took action. Amidst a current that made it almost impossible to move, they first carried out an elderly woman who was unable to walk. The crew then escorted an older gentleman and two younger men to Baldwin EMC vehicles and drove all four to the safety of a nearby shelter.
Cary Roley, one of Baldwin EMC’s area superintendents, was honored for a quick-thinking response that saved coworker Buddy Miller. The two men were dining with other coworkers when Miller began to choke. Without hesitation, Roley performed the Heimlich Maneuver until Miller was able to breathe again.
Baldwin EMC Chief Executive Officer E.A. “Bucky” Jakins, Jr., said that honoring these men with the Power and Hope Award was an easy choice for the co-op’s management and board of trustees. “Each of these men said they were ‘just doing what needed to be done,’ but it wasn’t hard for us to see they went far above and beyond that,” Jakins said. “They are very deserving of this honor.”