Co-op News
Meter Tech Aids Co-op Member
A co-op meter technician working on a routine call wound up making a catch that has coworkers and a consumer-member hailing him as a hero.
Ruby Howze stands with Dan Duke in the doorway of her home where she recently collapsed. (Photo By: Mark Sellers, PRECO)
“I don’t wear a badge or a fireman’s hat and I’m not in the military, so I don’t really consider myself a hero,” said Dan Duke, who has worked for Peace River Electric Cooperative since 2008. “I’m just glad I was there that day.”
He normally spends the early hours of his shift reading meters, and handles other work later in the day. Fortunately for Ruby Howze, a consumer-member of the Wauchula, Fla.-based co-op since 1955, Duke decided to break his regular routine and change out her meter before he began his route work.
When he knocked on the door to tell her that her power would be off temporarily, the elderly woman answered.
“She opened the door and said she was feeling dizzy,” recalled Duke. “After that, she blacked out and started falling backward, so I reached out and caught her before she hit the floor. I still had my [insulated protective] hot gloves on.”
After easing her into a sitting position in the doorway, Duke noticed Howze was breathing. However, she did not respond when he called her by name, so he dialed 911 and requested help.
Duke’s co-op vehicle was parked in the driveway near the road, with its yellow caution beacons flashing, when the ambulance arrived less than 10 minutes later. Howze was treated at an area hospital and released the same day.
Several days later, Duke visited Howze to check on her condition. When he knocked at the door, she greeted him with a smile and handed him the insulated gloves he’d left behind in the excitement.
“This guy helped me,” said a smiling Howze. “If he hadn’t been here, I might have gone to the door for some other reason and fell down the steps.”
Co-op management praised Duke for going to the aid of an ailing consumer-member.
“We’re proud to have caring employees like Dan Duke,” said Mark Sellers, communications coordinator for the co-op. “We offer CPR training to all employees, and we’re glad he was there and able to respond when he was needed.”