A lineman at Coastal Electric Cooperative has been recognized by a state cooperative association for saving the life of a firefighter injured during a tree-removal operation.
Adam Jarrard received a Life Saving Award from Georgia Electric Membership Corp. on Nov. 10 during the state trade-association annual meeting in Savannah.
Following a thunderstorm Aug. 9, Jarrard was called to a back road in Bryan County where a large tree had fallen across the road onto a cable line, pinning it to the ground. A firefighter already was in the process of cutting the trunk, which had broken off and was lying in the road. Jarrard asked the firefighter not to cut the tree resting on the wire and drove down the road to turn around. As he was positioning his truck to begin the tree removal, Jarrard saw the cable fly up into the air.
“I looked for the firefighter and didn’t see him, so I searched on the ground and found him unconscious and bleeding from a gash on his face,” Jarrard said.
As Jarrard called 911 and turned off the chainsaw, which was running nearby, the man regained consciousness. Afraid the man might have sustained a concussion from the force of the cable when it was released, Jarrard waited with him for EMTs to arrive, giving him water to drink and paper towels to staunch the bleeding.
The EMTs transported the firefighter to a clear area, and he was flown by helicopter to a Savannah hospital. Jarrard did not know the man’s name to inquire about him, but later heard from a neighbor who knows the man that he was recovering well from facial trauma and whiplash.
“I am glad he was in a position to lend help to the injured man,” Coastal Electric CEO Whit Hollowell said. “Adam exemplifies the qualities we value in all of our employees. They are trained to be linemen, but an important part of that training is to watch out for each other and for the community.”
The Life Saving Award was established to recognize electric cooperative employees whose quick thinking and actions are instrumental in safeguarding others from dangerous or potentially deadly situations.
Adam lives in Richmond Hill with his wife Abby; daughter, Abbie; and son, Grayson.
Coastal Electric Cooperative is a not-for-profit, consumer-owned power cooperative headquartered in Midway, providing electricity to more than 17,000 members in Bryan, Liberty, Long and McIntosh counties.
Georgia EMC is the statewide trade association representing the state’s 41 electric cooperatives, Oglethorpe Power Corp., Georgia Transmission Corp. and Georgia System Operations Corp. Through this statewide network, the EMCs provide electricity and related services to more than 4 million people, nearly half of Georgia’s population, across 73 percent of the state’s land area.