Twenty-nine people will be given lifesaving and humanitarian awards at the 58th annual Governor’s Industrial Safety and Health Conference in Tacoma Oct. 7-8. According to Washington State Labor & Industries (LNI) officials, their acts aided individuals involved in vehicle accidents, who suffered heart attacks, near-drownings, choking incidents and other perils.
The conference will be at the Greater Tacoma Convention and Trade Center. More than 1,500 people are expected to participate in more than 70 events, including workshops, exhibitions, demonstrations, a trade show, and special events such as a forklift rodeo and poletop-rescue competition. Registration begins onsite at 7 a.m. Oct. 7. Cost is $160. The conference is sponsored by the Governor’s Industrial Safety and Health Advisory Board and the Department of Labor & Industries.
Mike Heuer, Awards Committee chairman, will present the lifesaving awards honoring individuals who use their first-aid training and hands-on actions to save someones life. He will also present humanitarian awards, which are given when lifesaving efforts were made but the victim did not survive or when actions or deeds prevented the loss of life by means other than hands-on actions.
Locally, City of Tacoma employees Kendra McCoy and Lynn Walker will be honored for their actions. According to LNI, McCoy and Walker were in a meeting when a co-worker approached them. Walker noticed that she seemed unable to talk and appeared to be choking. The victim began to panic and flailed her arms as she tried to gasp for air. McCoy maneuvered around her to perform the Heimlich maneuver. When she was unable to dislodge the obstruction, Walker asked McCoy to repeat the maneuver, but with more force. After the second attempt, the food dislodged. Their co-worker is doing fine today.
For more information, including a list of recipients of the lifesaving and humanitarian awards, visit lni.wa.gov .
