IMSA Southwestern Section Previous Articles

Deer Are Beautiful Animals But, Can Also Be Very Dangerous!

Hitting a Deer at 60 MPH HURTS! I was driving to work on January 20th and out of nowhere a Deer ran out in front of me. I hit the Deer and did over $4,000.00 dollars damage on the truck that I just bought. I hit the deer so hard that it locked up my Seat Belt Sensors and ONSTAR called me! I found it Humorous that I don’t even pay for ONSTAR! This is 3 months after being in a five car accident with the one that I had before. (Ref: last Troubleshooter.

Just a reminder! All of you should know this anyway. NEVER try to swerve or avoid an animal if this happens to you. Vehicle parts can be repaired or replaced, but a life cannot!

On another Note! Myself, and 2nd Vice President, Dwayne Cassidy, are looking forward to hosting the Executive Board Meeting, which will be held on February 9, 2011 in Killeen, TX, at the Killeen Civic and Conference Center.

Ron Acker
Alternate Delegate
Southwestern Section
2009-2011

The Southwestern Section of IMSA held a business meeting on Wednesday, October 06, 2010 to discuss current and future IMSA activities as well as finalize preparations for the section’s certification school being held at the American Airlines Training Center November 8-11, 2010.

The above photo depicts the majority of attendees at the business meeting called to order by our President, Craig Spivey.

Photograph from left to right:
David Stallings, Robert Mooty, Belinda Younger-Gurley, Jackie Robinson, Warren Ferrell, Dwayne Cassidy, Craig Spivey, Lisa Purdy, Ron Acker (behind Lisa), David Dokupil, and Tracy Nichols.

Remember to send in your registration information ASAP in order to secure your spot and receive your training materials in time. We look forward to seeing everyone at the upcoming certification school!

Click picture for larger image

Tuesday, November 09, 2010 2:07 PM
Be careful when traveling to Training Events or you may end up in a Ditch!

Recently, my wife and I were involved in a 5 vehicle accident that could have been tragic!! Luckily we walked away!! We were traveling to an event for another organization that I am involved with. Traffic was heavy, it was dark, and there was not much time to react when out of nowhere a large truck hit us, causing us to Rollover into a ditch!

I am just happy to be able to share news with you of this incident! So when traveling of any kind, always be prepared!

Ron Acker
Alternate Delagate
Southwestern Section
2009-2011

*** See Video How a Safety Harness Can Save YOUR Life! ***

Recently, Siemens was contracted to support a small City with a new (and green) technician staff. The first task we performed was to get their technicians safety harnesses and lanyards. Prior to this, the techs often either did not wear them or used "the rope". I stressed to them that this was VERY unsafe and someone could be killed. Well, it looks like diligence paid off. Download the video and see.

Download Video HERE

The tech in this video was bruised up, but alive, thanks to his harness. Chalk one up for the good guys! I thought that this might be a good video to show when doing the level 1/2/3 training sessions to underscore the importance of safety. There are lots of items to point out in this video - bad truck placement, no ground person, no cones or traffic control - but the main point is that he was wearing his safety gear and survived to tell his tale.

- Mike Taylor, Sr. Field Tech. Support Rep., Siemens Energy & Automation, Inc.