Friday, August 28, 2015

Worker with Earth Pest Control in Oswego was electrocuted after he was conducting outdoor maintenance using a 29-foot aluminum pole and touched a 7,200-volt transmission line.





AUGUST 28, 2015

WEST DUNDEE, ILLINOIS

Man recovering after electrical shock in West Dundee 


By Erin Sauder Elgin Courier-News
A pest control worker was taken to the hospital Wednesday after he was injured by an electric shock.


A pest control worker was hospitalized Wednesday after he suffered electrical shock while doing routine maintenance in West Dundee.


The West Dundee Fire Department responded at 2:05 p.m. to 770 Beacon St. and found the man's co-worker, Kevin Floyd, and West Dundee police Sgt. Anthony Gorski administering CPR to a 21-year-old man who had no pulse, a West Dundee Fire Department news release said.

Gorski used a defibrillator on the man, officials said. One shock was given to the victim as the ambulance crews took over life support efforts.


After defibrillator use, the man began to improve as he was taken by ambulance to Advocate Sherman Hospital.

West Dundee Fire Chief Randy Freise said he arrived at the scene before the ambulance and engine crew. He saw both Sgt. Gorski and Floyd administering CPR and then saw Gorski use the AED.

Freise said Gorski had gone through EMT training.

"He took it upon himself to respond because he was close by at the station. A lot of credit goes to him for taking the initiative to get trained medically," Freise said.

The man was conscious and talking with paramedics at the hospital, Freise said.

A lot of prayer is what Kevin Floyd, owner of Earth Pest Control, attributes to his employee being alive today.

Floyd was on the job with the 21-year-old when he heard him give out a yell and fall to the ground.

"It looked like he got shocked. I saw some smoke. He stood up twice and fell down," Floyd said. "Then he stopped breathing for a while."

And that's when Floyd and some people who had been inside the building began praying.

"Someone said we had to do CPR. I haven't done CPR. I learned it when I took a class when I was about 16," Floyd said. "So I prayed and asked God to take control of me and show me the right way to do it."

Floyd said his employee has burns on his feet, forehead and hands from the incident.

"But he's looking to make a full recovery," he said.

The man is employed by Earth Pest Control in Oswego. He was conducting outdoor maintenance using a 29-foot aluminum pole, officials said.

And as it turns out, Gorski's EMT training class was led by two of Freise's firefighter/paramedics.

"It's gratifying that they were able to train him and he was able to use that in the field to save someone's life," Freise said.

He calls the whole situation "amazing."

"This guy wasn't breathing. His heart stopped and then we got him to the hospital and he was talking and aware of his surroundings," Freise said. "That was pretty exciting to hear he was OK."

ComEd workers were investigating, the release said. Officials believe the pole may have hit a 7,200-volt transmission line.

Floyd is still shaken up about the event.

"I've been struggling with it all day today," he said Thursday. "I'm kind of in a daze about what happened. But it was a miracle. And it was due to a lot of faithful Christians praying."

ComEd officials said no service was interrupted, as the pest control worker did not roast for too long and no wire or breakers were blown..