Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth’s (FBP) Ellen Clark has received one of Fluor’s highest awards for taking life-saving actions. She is the second woman at the former Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant to earn the prestigious “Silver Medallion” award. From left, FBP Quality Assurance Department Manager Mike Eversole, FBP President and CEO Greg Wilkett, Clark, FBP Environmental Safety, Health & Quality (ESH&Q) Director Harry Gulley, and FBP Programs and Assurance Director Steve May.
Submitted photo
PIKE COUNTY, OH – Tennis has always been her passion and talent, but saving lives has recently been added to the list. While playing mixed doubles tennis at a local fitness club in Chillicothe, Ellen Clark soon found herself administering CPR to a teammate who had collapsed behind her on the court. Clark has earned Fluor’s Silver Medallion award for taking life-saving actions and is the second woman in the history of Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth (FBP) to receive the prestigious award.
Clark’s supervisor, Dana Jenkins, is a Quality Assurance Engineer at the Portsmouth site for FBP.
“Ellen is talkative, very friendly, and easy to get along with,” Jenkins said. “When she shared what had happened, we asked if we could use it as a safety topic in our next meeting. Her story is something that other people can potentially use to help save a life one day. Receiving this award is well deserved for what she did.”
Clark was in the right place at the right time.
“At first, I thought he was goofing off because he likes to joke around,” Clark said, “but then, after sitting up, he fell back down and hit his head hard on the pavement. His lips and eyelids were starting to turn blue.”
Clark immediately began administering Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) training she had learned at work before transferring the actions to a bystander so she could operate the automated external defibrillator (AED). Another bystander called 911.
“While doing the chest compressions, I was just hoping that I was doing it right—I didn’t want him to die,” Clark said.
Before the AED could be used, he began breathing again. Clark followed the ambulance to the hospital.
“He told me, ‘Ellen, I am going to be forever grateful to you.’.”
Clark is a Quality Assurance Engineer at PORTS.
“I am just grateful that he is still with us and I guess I feel that God put me in that situation. When you take CPR classes, you never feel like you’re going to use it. I will definitely feel more confident if I’m ever in an emergency situation like this again,” Clark said.
“We are very proud of Ellen and the way she represented our company in the local community,” FBP President and CEO Greg Wilkett said. “We always tell our employees to take safety home, and she has applied her training and knowledge to help others when the seconds count.”
Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth, LLC., is the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) contractor for the decontamination and decommissioning of the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Piketon, Ohio. Fluor Corporation (NYSE: FLR) and BWX Technologies, Inc. (BWXT) (NYSE: BWXT), two world-class companies with significant Ohio experience, formed Fluor-BWXT to address the decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) needs at DOE’s Portsmouth Site. Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth employs 1,900 workers who bring unparalleled experience, insights, and lessons learned from across the DOE complex. Safety is our number one priority to ensure successful project completion while focusing on the economic future of the community.
