Last week, Brother Justin Baker was awared the Governor's Lifesaving Award. Justin's actions on the jobsite saved the life of his coworker.

From the Washington State Governor's Industrial Safety & Health Advisory Board, and the Department of Labor & Industies:

TUMWATER — No one leaves for work thinking they’ll soon be faced with a life-threatening situation, and none of us really knows how we would react until it happens.

Today, the Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) and the Governor’s Industrial Safety and Health Advisory Board are honoring 14 heroic Washington workers as part of the 70th annual Governor’s Industrial Safety and Health Conference.

“You never know when an emergency will occur, but the quick thinking and fast reactions of the Lifesaving Award honorees reassure us that our coworkers and sometimes perfect strangers are there to help,” said Craig Blackwood, acting assistant director, Division of Occupational Safety and Health.

Three of this year’s recipients are crewmembers of the MV Whatcom Chief ferry. Captain Gary Poole noticed a kayak floating with nobody inside. As he steered the ferry closer to the kayak, he saw a young man and small child in the water. Deck crewmembers, Tom Phillips and Doug Cash, pulled the kayakers onto the ferry where they warmed up and soon reunited with a family member.

Along with that heroic rescue, award winners this year are honored for performing CPR and using an automated external defibrillator to help jump start a worker’s heart after suffering cardiac arrest, stabilizing a worker suffering a seizure, and taking a co-worker with a completely blocked artery to the hospital.

Sometimes, despite best efforts, there are tragic results. This year’s Lifesaving Humanitarian Award goes to Maddie Froyd. She did everything she could to try to save a man who crashed his car through a fence and went down an embankment while she was working at the Bainbridge Athletic Club. The 73-year-old man later died at the hospital from an apparent medical condition. Froyd is being recognized for the heroic act she performed trying to save a life.

To be eligible for this year’s Lifesaving Award, the heroic act must have occurred during work hours between June 1, 2020 and May 31, 2021 and the nominee must have performed hands-on aid.

Check out the write up in the 2021 Governor's Lifesaving Award Program