Transecure Employee
of the
Year 2006 is...
Robert Dubois
Bus driver honoured for transporting woman in labour to hospital named TRANSECURE Employee of the Year - 2006
OC Transpo bus operator Robert Dubois is the 2006 TRANSECURE Employee of
the Year. He received the award at the 17th annual TRANSECURE
awards ceremony this morning, for his role in saving a passenger’s life.
On June 20, a very
pregnant woman boarded Robert Dubois’ bus and began to experience labour
pains. When Robert asked her if she was all right, the woman indicated the
baby’s head was crowning and needed to attend the hospital immediately.
Robert cleared the front seats of the bus and had the woman lie down and
breath slowly. He contacted Control and requested to reroute his bus
directly to the hospital, and proceeded to advise his passengers that he
would be driving directly to the hospital without stopping.
Since the section of
road he was driving on was under heavy construction, Robert spoke to the
crew and requested to proceed through the construction zone. With the
assistance of Control, who had contacted the hospital prior to their
arrival, Robert’s bus made it in time for the baby’s safe delivery.
“I would like to
congratulate Robert Dubois and all the OC Transpo employees for their
compassion and endless support in making our community a safer place to
live, work and play,” said Councillor Alex Cullen, Chair of the Transit
Committee. “It is extremely comforting to know that they are watching
out for the well-being of our citizens.
Robert
Dubois is just one of 13 Transit employees who were honoured for going
above and beyond the call of duty to look out for the safety of the
community, or using their buses to provide a safe haven to persons in
distress.
Since the
program’s inception in October 1989, OC Transpo employees have logged
more than 7,844 TRANSECURE calls. Almost 384 calls were recorded in 2006.
The TRANSECURE programs’ success is due to the employees who go out of
their way to make Ottawa a safe and caring community.