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PORTLAND, OR -- June 2004

"Mule kick to the head" describes Herman "Red" Blotzer's experience with his chainsaw.

While sawing two-inch tree limbs for firewood, Blotzer's 18-inch chainsaw suddenly and violently "kickbacked", striking him forcibly in the forehead, tearing a 4-inch long gash above his left eye.

Alone at home that Spring afternoon, and with blood streaming from the 1/4-inch wide laceration, Blotzer, 65, drove himself to the Mackenzie Fire and Rescue station, where he serves as a volunteer firefighter and maintenance specialist. An on-duty firefighter drove him to the emergency room at the nearby hospital in Springfield, Oregon. After receiving 40 stitches, Blotzer returned to work a few days later, only to have concerned co-workers suggest another visit to the doctor. A follow-up check-up revealed he had also suffered a stroke, requiring visits to the neurologist and physical therapist. Blotzer's medical bills tally $3,000.00 so far, and more are coming in, plus his doctor is prescribing continued physical therapy.

As a volunteer firefighter in Central Oregon for the past eight years and previously as a deputy sheriff in Southern California, Blotzer has seen how dangerous chainsaws can be. He recalls one recent accident when a friend's brother-in-law ruined his wife's birthday party when his chainsaw hit him in the neck, narrowly missing the jugular, and he was rushed to the hospital.

"I've used a chainsaw for 40+ years, and never dreamed that something like this would happen," Blotzer recollected. "I'm lucky that it didn't knock me out, or cut me so bad that I bled to death."

When Blotzer's fire chief gave him a brochure on a new chainsaw safety guard, The Centurion, designed to protect against kickback, Blotzer immediately called Safeguard Ventures, based in Portland, OR, to order the safety device. He became the first owner of the newly introduced chainsaw safety guard.

Now securely installed on his chainsaw, Blotzer's fellow firefighters tease him about needing the safety guard before he cut his firewood. Blotzer smiles at the good-natured ribbing, and vows-"It won't happen again."