On a seemingly typical day, Lloyd Jones, a customer service technician with FortisBC, was conducting gas maintenance surveys in the qathet region to check for any potential hazards. He soon found himself in the right place at the right time to ultimately save a customer’s life.
As a customer-service technician, Jones is out in the community on a regular basis. His day-to-day work varies quite a bit, including everything from routine maintenance work, installing gas services for homeowners, completing meter exchanges, visiting construction sites and responding to gas emergencies.
Having lived in Powell River for the past 15 years, Jones takes pride in keeping his community safe, both in and outside of his role. With years of experience working with FortisBC and past experience as a volunteer firefighter, he is no stranger to understanding safety requirements. However, when a seemingly typical day turned into something more, FortisBC was grateful that Jones was nearby to jump into action.
“When checking a meter, I heard someone yelling and a dog barking,” explained Jones. “In my role, I see and hear a lot of different things, so I didn’t want to jump to any conclusions and interject in something that wasn’t my business. I started driving away in my truck; something told me to go back to make sure all was okay.”
It turns out, everything wasn’t okay. A local resident and FortisBC customer had fallen and badly injured herself in her home, where she lives alone. In a letter to the FortisBC customer service team, she explained that she lives in a newly built neighbourhood with only a few residents, and her home is at the back of a rarely used cul-de-sac with no neighbours for approximately 200 to 300 metres.
The customer recounted that she was unable to stand, reach the door or phone, and was alone and stuck on the floor all night. After nearly 24 hours, she became increasingly concerned that no one would come to help.
She eventually heard a vehicle driving on the gravel road and used her remaining energy to yell for help. To her surprise, someone heard her and came to the door.
The woman managed to unlock her front door with a broomstick, allowing Jones to enter the home. He found her face down on the floor and in a lot of pain. She had been laying there for hours.
“I did what anyone would do. I called 911 immediately, checked her vitals, found a blanket to cover her with, gave her some ice as she hadn’t had anything to drink in 24 hours, connected her cell phone to a charger, and called her friend to advise of the situation,” said Jones. “It was important that I stayed until the ambulance arrived to try and calm and comfort her; no one should be alone in an already stressful and scary situation like that.”
Fortunately, the ambulance arrived quickly and the woman was taken to hospital with a broken wrist and hip. A week later, Jones was back in the same area as part of his job and stopped by to check in. She explained that she was doing much better, but that she’d had no unplanned visitors since, highlighting the fact that the situation truly could have ended much differently.
In recognition of his heroic efforts, Jones was honoured with St. John Ambulance Lifesaving Award this summer.
“When I talked to Lloyd about the situation, he said he was ‘just doing his job and that anyone would have done the same,’” said Dave McColm, operations manager, FortisBC. “But it’s beyond that, in my opinion. He was paying attention to his surroundings and actioned something that didn’t seem quite right.”
In her letter to FortisBC, the customer said: “I felt you should know you have a knight in shining armor in your employee.”
Jones said the main lesson he took from the situation is to listen to that voice in your head, or your gut.
“We can sometimes get laser-focused on our tasks or caught up in our to-do list that we miss or choose to ignore something.” he added. “I’m not sure what made me go back and check, but I’m so grateful I did. I encourage everyone to trust their instincts. If you think you should do something, do it. You never know who you could be helping.”
In a post on its website, FortisBC thanked Jones for trusting his instincts and training, and doing his part to help keep our communities safe, and that “keeping our employees and customers safe is at the core of everything we do.”
Join the Peak's email list for the top headlines right in your inbox Monday to Friday.
