Eduard E. Althausen, 63, welder, rescued Gerhard A. Erlemann, 60, naval architect, from electric shock, Baltimore, Maryland, March 20, 1958. While shoveling snow in an alley in front of his garage, Erlemann uncovered a broken power line which was suspended from a nearby utility pole and carried 2400 volts of electricity. He picked up the wire and immediately lost consciousness, failing backward to the ground. Althausen, who had a cardiac condition, was standing nearby and saw the sputtering wire which Erlemann still was holding. With his hands protected only by fur-lined leather gloves, Althausen took hold of the wire, which had only a weatherproof covering, and felt a strong tingle. By jerking upward twice on the wire, he freed it from Erlemann’s grasp and then tossed it aside. A physician summoned from the house next door gave first aid to Erlemann, who then was removed to a hospital where he revived six hours later. He suffered a fractured shoulder blade and a severe burn on the palm of his hand. He was hospitalized for a month. Althausen suffered no aggravation of his heart condition.
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