April 18, 2008—In real life, Rich Keating is a Mechanical Foreman for Metra–the Northeast Illinois Regional Commuter Railroad Corporation–in the 49th Street Coach Shop. He is active in the union, serving currently as Financial Secretary-Treasurer of Supervisors Lodge 5098. Rickey Lamb is a Carman there and a member of Lodge 6297.
Recently these two became heroes who helped others who were in trouble, not once but twice. The first incident occurred on Monday, March 24,when another Metra employee had a medical emergency while working in the 51st Street Coach Yard. Rushing to the scene with the necessary emergency equipment, the two cared for the stricken individual until the EMTs arrived to transport the man to a nearby hospital for further treatment. Then, a similar crisis developed only a few days later on Friday, March 28, when it was necessary for Keating and Lamb again to rush the emergency equipment to the site where another co-worker had collapsed and apply the device until the medics arrived.
As ARASA Division International Representative Joe Derillo and Lodge 5098 General Chairman Sukhram Narine wrote in a letter to Keating commending the quick-thinking rescues, “Your quick actions unquestionably contributed to a more favorable outcome for both employees…We Appreciate your enormous efforts.”