Say a Prayer for Our Linemen
Dave Smith has been an Industrial Maintenance Electrician since 1975. He has taught maintenance, troubleshooting and safety courses to thousands of electricians in mines, mills, refineries, factories, plants, power stations and offshore platforms throughout North America and the Middle East. Dave is a hands-on guy and teache...
Curt had just left his local lineman job for a dream job in a small mountain city. He and Danielle, his wife, love the mountains, and it looked like a great place to raise two young boys. He was there three weeks when the accident happened.
Here is Danielle’s (edited) Facebook posting:
Curt and another gentleman were changing out a line when everything went funny. The two men were electrocuted with 14.4kV and are a miracle to be here with us today. They were blessed to have a third co-worker who did all the right things and freed them from the bucket truck and got help on the way. He will never know how important he is to both families.
I received a call that Curt had been electrocuted and taken to the hospital. When I visited him, he was terribly scared and in incredible pain. His gloves were burned onto his hands and his cell phone burned into his leg. There are also severe burns on his back where it made contact with the harness. While I was with him, hospital staff struggled to find a vein for an IV. They removed his clothing and delicately cut off the gloves. Once he was stable, he and the other man were flown to a burn centre.
Thankfully, the company arranged a driver for me so I could be with Curt at the burn centre. When I arrived, Curt had just gotten his central IV line and was being prepped for surgery. I was able to see him briefly, but he was very medicated; his hands were so badly burned that they had swollen to an inhuman size.
Afterward, the surgeon met with the family to explain the procedure and concerns regarding his injury. During the procedure, doctors made incisions on the insides of Curt’s arms (from his fingers to his elbows), two smaller ones on the backs of his arms, and two incisions on the backs of his hands—all of which were left open to relieve the pressure from swelling. They treated all the burns as best they could at the time, and it was now a waiting game for whatever came next.
Remember, electricity burns you from the inside out, so ongoing internal deterioration is expected. Electricity breaks down muscle in your body, which the kidneys will have to process. This is an onerous task for them, which is why Curt was pumped full with an IV fluid (plus catheter) to remove the toxins. The kidneys can be damaged—they could even fail—raising the possibility of dialysis in Curt’s future.
I was able to see Curt again after his surgery in the middle of the night and, all things considered, he looked well. He had colour back in his face and was resting peacefully. And so begins his long journey of recovery.
The danger is so enormous in electrical utility work that FR PPE provides little protection. Instead, protection comes from insulating covers and live line techniques, procedures and work methods—which every utility has in abundance.
Curt would have been wearing 25-cal clothing, rubber and leather gloves, but these are completely overwhelmed by a 100+cal flash, which can easily develop in a high-voltage line.
This was a terrible occurrence, making this a difficult column to write. Curt is unlikely to die, but it will take a miracle for him to keep both his hands. He’s such a good guy: friend, father, husband, worker, co-worker, athlete, community volunteer... just the kind of guy you want in your life.
When you hear “Every accident can be prevented”, it is said as a reminder, not a reality. And reality tells us that the best we can do is try to eliminate as many accident-causing variables that we possibly can.
But when you work with your hands, things can happen.
There are slips, mistakes, errors in judgement, etc. When we start in the electrical trades, no one says, “Welcome to the bomb squad”, even though we’re often one slip away from an explosive disaster. High voltages and high currents are brutal, lethal substances that are just one slip away from detonation.
I write these columns to help people avoid accidents. Carry this story into your safety discussions and think about the dangers to which you expose your own hands, and consider how you protect them.
As you plan your work, remember Curt’s plea to his rescuers: “I have a wife and two kids... tell me I’m okay!”.
And every time you see linemen working live, say a silent prayer, as they’re risking their lives so the rest of us can watch TV.
Until next time, be ready, be careful and be safe.