As a field technician for Minnesota Energy Resources and a first captain for the volunteer fire department in Ellendale, Nolan McGowan has always wanted to help others.
Recently, his two worlds collided when a routine call for a natural gas leak turned into a medical emergency.
McGowan was finishing work in the basement of a home in Blooming Prairie when he heard a commotion above him. “I knew something wasn’t right,” he said.
He raced upstairs and found a grandmother in distress because her young granddaughter was having a seizure. While the grandmother called 911, McGowan’s emergency response training kicked in. “I helped put the child into the recovery position and checked her airway to make sure it was clear from obstructions,” he said.
He didn’t stop there. After police arrived on the scene, he took the girl’s younger brother into another room and played games with him to help distract him. “I just wanted to help the grandmother however I could,” McGowan said.
As a volunteer first responder, this wasn’t McGowan’s first time providing assistance when it was needed. (When pressed, he said he has helped to save at least four lives and even helped to deliver a baby.) But he sees this work as something he was raised to do. “My dad, Steve, also works for Minnesota Energy Resources; he’s also a volunteer firefighter,” McGowan said. “It’s kind of a family tradition.”
Steve McGowan has been with the company for 37 years and Nolan McGowan for eight. They both care deeply about their work on and off the clock. “It’s a way to give back to the community that you work and live in,” Nolan McGowan said.
The day after McGowan jumped into action, the Blooming Prairie police chief called to personally thank him. But McGowan says he was just doing his job: “I do this because I want to help, not for the recognition.”