Washington DC Heat

Our lead story at 5pm today was the heat wave in the Washington DC metro area.We had reporter Jeff Napshin at one of the city pools in East Potomac Park. He was doing a story on how people are coping with the heat.

Of course, one of the best ways to cope is to find a pool and go swimming. I don't direct the 5pm newscast; I was serving as the remote coordinator. That position is the link between the control room and the reporters in the field.

As I was talking to Jeff and setting up his live shot, there was one thing that kept going through my mind for Jeff and his videographer, Keith Williams. Be careful!

Back when I was in Florida, a friend of mine was doing a similar live shot. I don't remember the exact circumstances of what happened, but at some point the mast on the live shot truck hit an electric wire. That sent a jolt of electricity down through the truck and through the camera and down the microphone cable to the reporter. There was a jolt of electricity that went up to his leg and he was burned. He survived, but it was a harrowing experience for all.

Many times people say producing TV isn't brain surgery. No one will die. That's not necessarily true. In the field, if you let your guard down for just a moment something catastrophic could happen. It's a lesson I would see others go through at other times in my career, sometimes with deadly results.