By KAREN LAGRANGE COX
Field employees of SLEMCO, an electric cooperative, are not only responsible for working on electrical power lines, but they are also trained to provide general aid to the public. This assistance can range from giving cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to individuals in need, to fixing a flat tire for a stranded motorist.
It is important to recognize that field employees like them not only carry out their regular duties but also frequently help the public in various ways. They also endure extreme weather conditions, including hurricanes and ice storms, to restore electrical power to those who have been affected.
SLEMCO ensures that their field employees are trained annually in Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR). This is done to equip them to be first responders in every sense of the word. According to Mary Laurent, who handles communications and public relations for SLEMCO, these field employees are always ready to assist ordinary people in need.
Field employee Keith Blanchard, along with Brian Blome and RJ “Ricky” Fredrick, helped a stranded motorist in St. Landry Parish in January 2024. The motorist, Norma Guillory, had run over a piece of metal on the road, which resulted in a blown-out tire on her car. Blanchard, Blome, and Frederick were in the area and changed the tire on Guillory’s car.
Laurent said there are countless other stories of field employees assisting the public as they go about their daily work of providing reliable electric service to their customers.
Laurent continued, “Until the middle of the 20th century – less than one hundred years ago – electricity was a convenience, not a necessity. Not everyone realizes this – particularly younger people. Today, not having reliable electric power can literally mean the difference between life and death for homebound patients on oxygen, dialysis, or even continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines. When most of us are hunkering down in safety, our field crews are heading out into the wind and weather to bring life back to normal for the rest of us.”
SLEMCO is owned by its members and is located in Broussard, Louisiana.
