A CenterPoint Energy employee’s life-saving actions earn a top AGA honor
What was supposed to be a routine house call to turn on service ended up being anything but routine for CenterPoint Energy Gas Specialist Tyler Brown of Terre Haute, Indiana, last year.
When Brown knocked on the door, the homeowner who answered was extremely delirious, then he stumbled and lost consciousness. At the same time, Brown’s Sensit Gold, which incorporates a carbon monoxide sensor, was registering more than 730 parts per million carbon monoxide. The current Occupational Safety and Health Administration permissible exposure limit for carbon monoxide is 50 ppm as an eight-hour time-weighted average.
Brown acted quickly to locate a gas generator running in the kitchen and turned it off. He moved the man outside while calling 911, then roused him enough to ask whether anyone else was at home. Upon hearing that the man’s fiancée was inside, Brown reentered the house and found the woman in a bedroom, in bed and lethargic. By then, paramedics had arrived, and they were able to get her to safety.
For his heroic actions, the American Gas Association presented Brown with the AGA Meritorious Award, given annually to an individual who has performed the worthiest act in the gas industry in saving a human life during the prior calendar year. The award was given at the Fall AGA Operations Conference, an annual event that was virtual this year because of COVID-19.
Karen Harbert, AGA president and CEO, praised Brown for his quick thinking and calmness under pressure and for putting his emergency training to use.
“Tyler, you greatly deserve this award, and I know two other people that are hugely indebted to you … those two precious lives you saved,” Harbert said.
Brown thanked AGA for the award and CenterPoint Energy for giving him the training he needed to respond to the situation.
Richard Leger, vice president of natural gas distribution, Indiana and Ohio, said he is extremely proud of Brown. “Our employees are trained as first responders to natural gas emergencies, and Tyler’s perceptiveness to identify and react in accordance with that training is a direct reflection on how our employees show initiative and compassion toward our customers,” Leger told American Gas. “To say that I am thankful to have Tyler on the team would be an absolute understatement.”