It was about 3:30 p.m. on Jan. 2, 2009.
Glenn Powers the Survivor
Glenn Powers, the cooler supervisor of Washington Beef in Toppenish and a Selah grandfather of seven, was discussing the next day’s schedule with his boss when he blacked out while having a heart attack and collapsed.
His boss, Kevin Lawson, and other co-workers performed CPR until the plant’s contracted medical administrator showed up with the plant’s AED.
The second shock resuscitated his heart.
Powers, now 60, took a few months off for therapy but has since returned to work full time and said he has no ill effects, other than getting tired a little quicker than previously.
The company has since purchased three more AEDs and keeps 40 of its 800 employees trained to use them.
“Had we not had the AED on site … the outcome with Glenn probably would have been tragically different,” said Brad McDowell, president of AB Foods, the parent company of Washington Beef.
