The Southwestern Electric live line demo team of, from left, Adam French, Braden Clark, Scott Fitzgerald and Kyle Hails shows a group of students from Silver Creek Elementary School in Highland what can happen when a tree branch comes into contact with an electrified power line. (Photo credit: Mike Barns)
A Story Worth Telling
Southwestern Electric’s live line demo crew spreads message of electrical safety
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It’s officially called a live line demonstration, but Kyle Hails likes to think of it as “presenting a story.”
“If we don’t take what we’re doing seriously, we’re doing the audience an injustice,” Hails said. “It needs to be good; it needs to be engaging. If we can do that, they’re going to get something out of it.”
Hails, a maintenance foreman with Southwestern Electric, is part of the four-man team that makes up the cooperative’ live line demo crew. Joining him are Journeyman Lineman Adam French; Foreman Polyphase Meterman & Tester Scott Fitzgerald; and Journeyman Lineman Braden Clark.
The four-man crew travels across the Southwestern Electric service area and beyond to spread their gospel of electrical safety. In recent months, they’ve put on demonstrations for volunteer firefighters in New Douglas and Altamont, spoken to school-aged children in Highland at the Progressive Agriculture Safety Day, and performed for crowds of farmers at Decatur’s popular Farm Progress Show.
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The presentation explains how electricity powers our lives, details real-world hazards and offers live-saving tips and tactics in the event of a contact incident. Though the roughly hour-long program remains largely the same from event to event, finding a way to relate their message to different demographics at each stop presents a welcome challenge, Hails said.
“I always think about what is absolutely the most important to who I’m looking at,” Hails said. “For first responders, for example, we talk about the equipment we’re using, the safety gear we’re using because it’s more pertinent to them. I want to highlight the things that matter to them.”
Though some of the presentations take place during work hours, others—like those at volunteer fire departments—have to be done on nights and weekends, making the demos a labor of love for Hails and the rest of the crew. He said that while it may sometimes cut into personal time, the engagement and “overwhelmingly positive” response to the program makes the extra work worth it.
“They walk away saying, ‘Wow, this is serious, and I’m really glad you showed us that,’” Hails said. “The question-and-answer session at the end is the best time, every time, because you can look in their face and see things start to click. You really do start to see the value in what you’re doing and the time you’re putting in.”
As far as what the future holds, Hails said they hope to present the demo to even more businesses, schools and community groups in the future, specifically hoping to reach more farmers—many of whom might double as Southwestern Electric members.
“As a cooperative, that’s what we do,” he said. “It’s a service that we’re doing.”