Par : Meghan Schiller et Jessica Guay/KDKA-TV
MCCANDLESS, Pa. (KDKA) – Two Duquesne Light workers have been taken to hospital after being shocked while working on a power pole in McCandless.
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After a power surge on Wednesday, neighbors said they ran outside to find an unconscious Duquesne Light employee.
Jim Vent said he saw his neighbor, who is a nurse, give CPR to an employee who was working on a newly installed hydro pole on Brandywine Drive.
“He was just unconscious and on the ground. And like I said, the nice nurse next door was working hard on him,” Vent said.
Vent said a power surge happened just before noon on Wednesday and everyone got out to see what was happening. He said he saw some commotion going on on Brandywine Drive and when he ran down the street to investigate he saw the line worker. The nurse who lived nearby began performing CPR while another neighbor called 911.
Neighbors heard a noise and their electricity went out at the same time as the accident.
“They had replaced the pole probably a few months ago and they hadn’t reversed the power lines, so I think what they eventually did was they cut off the top of the pole and they were just moving wires from pole to pole. pole,” Wind said.
He saw McCandless police show up with a defibrillator and said he electrocuted a worker. He did not see the second worker. He also saw Duquesne Light crews filling his street and an ambulance speeding away.
“They came to help their buddy and they were very emotional, exactly what you would expect,” Vent said.
WATCH: Reporting by Jessica Guay
Duquesne Light sent KDKA the following statement:
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“Earlier today, two Duquesne Light Company (DLC) linemen working along Brandywine Drive in McCandless Township were injured while carrying out work on a utility pole. Both employees have been transported to local hospitals and we continue to monitor their condition.
“The safety of our employees, contractors and the public is always our top priority at DLC. An investigation into the cause of the incident is ongoing. Our hearts go out to these employees, their families and their colleagues.
About 30 customers were still without power in this area following the incident. We are working to safely restore service to affected customers as quickly as possible. »
Power was restored Wednesday evening, but neighbors are still shaken.
“I’ve heard transformers explode before. You can see a high voltage zap, it’s like a real powerful zap. That’s when we knew something was wrong,” said Greg Mell.
Mell heard the loud noise at lunchtime. When he came out, he couldn’t believe what he saw in his garden.
“Came running outside and a gentleman was unconscious in the yard, and another guy was in the bucket of the truck and was also a little unconscious,” Mell said.
Mell said his next door neighbor is the nurse who performed CPR on the worker who was in his yard.
“Luckily she came right away and she knew exactly what to do with the chest compressions. He was unconscious and he started to turn dark purple. The neighbor did the chest compressions and he started gasping,” he said.
Mell did what he could to help.
“I was next to the nurse, holding her head, trying to say, ‘hey, stay with us, just stay here.’ You could kind of see in his glove where he was still smoking where he must have touched the power line, so we were really worried. Hope he’s okay,” Mell said.
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As of Wednesday evening, Duquesne Light did not provide an update on the conditions of the two workers.
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