Blackline Safety Presents Community Hero Award to Ohio Utility Workers for Saving Child’s Life

New Blackline Safety Impact Awards program honors people who demonstrate safety excellence, go above and beyond to help save others

Blackline Safety Corp. (TSX: BLN), a global leader in connected safety technology, today announced that it has presented its inaugural Community Hero Award to Matt Overcasher and Steve Manypenny, two Columbus, Ohio utility workers who used their Blackline Safety G7 devices to get help for a child who was unresponsive and not breathing.

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In honor of their quick thinking and heroic actions that saved a toddler's life, utility workers Matt Overcasher, left, and Steve Manypenny, right, are the first recipients of Blackline Safety's Community Hero award. (Photo: Business Wire)

Overcasher and Manypenny, utility field technicians, were on their way home from work last summer when they heard frantic screaming from the mother of an 18-month-old struggling to breathe. Using quick thinking, they pulled the emergency SOS latch on their cloud connected Blackline G7 device and were able to get medical help dispatched within seconds. The wearable G7—with features such as gas detection, SOS latch, fall and no motion detection, push-to-talk, and real-time connectivity—provides a critical lifeline in case of emergency.

Communicating with an agent from Blackline’s 24/7 live Safety Operations Center via the device’s two-way voice capability, the duo was guided on what to do until EMS arrived on-site and revived the unconscious child.

“Blackline’s purpose is to make sure that every worker has the confidence to do their job and return home safely at the end of their day,” said Christine Gillies, Chief Product & Marketing Officer of Blackline Safety. “Our devices protect over 165,000 workers globally—our reach is extended several times over when workers use the devices to get help in their communities. The Community Hero awards for Matt and Steve acknowledge that they went above and beyond in this life-threatening situation. The child was able to make a full recovery thanks to their actions.”

In honor of Overcasher and Manypenny’s heroic actions, Blackline Safety and NiSource, the workers’ employer, made a $10,000 donation in their name to Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Ohio.

Blackline Safety Impact Awards will be presented annually in a variety of award categories, including customer, channel partner and environmental heroes, in addition to community heroes. For more information and to nominate an organization, group or individual for the award, visit https://www.blacklinesafety.com/blackline-safety-impact-awards.

“At Blackline, we are committed to protecting the lives of our customers while they are on the job,” said Donnovan Simon, Blackline Safety Vice President of Client Success. “We are immensely proud of our customers who consistently go above and beyond in their essential roles, whether it's fighting fires, responding to industrial emergencies, or ensuring reliable power during storms. These workers are the backbone of our communities, often the first to respond when help is needed. While they don't do this for awards or recognition, we believe it's important to highlight their bravery and dedication.”

About Blackline Safety: Blackline Safety is a technology leader driving innovation in the industrial workforce through IoT (Internet of Things). With connected safety devices and predictive analytics, Blackline enables companies to drive towards zero safety incidents and improved operational performance. Blackline provides wearable devices, personal and area gas monitoring, cloud-connected software and data analytics to meet demanding safety challenges and enhance overall productivity for organizations with coverage in more than 100 countries. Armed with cellular and satellite connectivity, Blackline provides a lifeline to tens of thousands of people, having reported over 225 billion data-points and initiated over seven million emergency alerts. For more information, visit BlacklineSafety.com and connect with us on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn and Instagram.

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