Looking out for co-worker makes vital difference

Kenny Roach and Jason Baze's quick thinking helped save their co-worker's life.

By Tim Potter:

South Central Kansas
Public Affairs Manager 

The task seemed to go so smoothly, so routinely. It was Sept. 30, and three KDOT co-workers gathered tree limbs along K-4 only about a mile from Hoisington.

That proximity to the town -- and its hospital -- would be crucial.

The whole experience would show the importance of watching out for a co-worker, of not hesitating in a potential health emergency.

The tree-limb removal had taken the three men only about five minutes. But as they finished, one of the three said something that drew the others’ attention -- “I feel hot.” Which was a sign of trouble because it wasn’t too hot or humid, and the man was known for being energetic. But now he was having to rest by the work truck after a relatively easy task.

“We looked at him, and something’s not right here,” Kenney Roach remembered thinking of his co-worker. With the suddenly ill man that day were Roach, an Equipment Operator, and Jason Baze, an Equipment Operator Senior.

“It was pretty out-of-the-ordinary for him,” Baze recalled.

Baze thought they were going to have to force the man to head for help in Hoisington, but they all quickly decided to go.

Baze directed his ill co-worker into the passenger seat up front in the extended cab, where it was roomy, accessible and where AC vents would give relief. Roach drove them on the short trip to the hospital in Hoisington, straight to the emergency room. Baze and Roach walked on either side of the man, ready to catch him if he started to collapse. (For privacy reasons, this article is not naming the man or detailing his condition.)

The two co-workers told a nurse about the man’s symptoms. “And they took him right into the room,” Baze said.

Baze and Roach would learn that it was critical that they wasted no time going to the hospital. Later, the man was taken by air ambulance to a Wichita hospital. He is recovering at home.

Baze and Roach have received regular first aid training from KDOT. Part of the training instills the idea that it’s better to seek help and not end up needing it than to wait too long, Baze said.

The training “kicks in when we need it,” said Michelle Burnett, Area Engineer in Great Bend.

Thinking back, Baze, Roach and Burnett said, it was a good thing the man wasn’t working alone that day.

“I feel like they saved his life,” she said.

KDOT’s “Infant at Work” program reaches important milestone

By Mallory Goeke

KDOT Communications Specialist 

Bringing a child to work may not be the first thing that comes to mind when a new baby is born, but for KDOT employees, this is an option they have for the first 150 days of their child’s life. 

KDOT began participating in the “Infant at Work” program in 2001. At that time, it was only a pilot project that was under evaluation to determine if it would be feasible to continue.

There are several steps and conditions parents must agree to before their child can come to work.

According to KDOT’s Policy, only parents or grandparents of the child may bring the infant to work. The infant must stay in their parent’s work area for the workday. There must be at least two other KDOT employees who can volunteer to help take over in case the parent has a meeting. 

To help support parents, there are sitting rooms available when babies need to be fed or soothed.

Time Flies! Kelly Broxterman and her twins were the first to participate in the Infants at Work program at KDOT in 2001.

Kelly Broxterman, KDOT’s Grant and Fiscal Coordinator, and her twin sons, Colton and Justin, were the first participants in the program.  In an article from a 2001 issue of the agency’s newsletter, Translines, Broxterman said that she thought the program was a positive experience and provided important information to help build the program.

 Eighteen years later, an additional 114 babies have been able to start their lives out at work with their parents. Justin and Colton are now graduating high school!

Justin and Colton Broxterman were the first babies to participate in the Infant at work program.
They are now graduating high school this weekend.

In retrospect, Broxterman said that the program was a great way to balance work and family. 

“It gave me the ability to return to work quicker and the opportunity to spend time bonding with the boys,” Broxterman said. “As a new parent at the time, having the boys go to work with me was very comforting. They slept quite a bit every day, so I was able to get my work done but could look over and see they were okay.”

KDOT’s Bureau Chief of Personal Services, Denise Schwab said that a lot has changed since the program’s inception. 

“More people are interested now,” Schwab said.  “More senior managers and supervisors are more comfortable with the program and there are more mothers and fathers who are interested. I think it’s really cool that fathers are involved, they often split duties with their spouse.”

Schwab said that in the early development of the program, there was a bit of anxiety that having infants at work would interrupt work flow, but as time has gone by attitudes are changing. Schwab said that hearing the happy sounds that a baby makes can increase office morale.

“There’s a real human side to having an infant at work,” Schwab said. “They bring a lot of joy to the office place, and they are fun to have around.”

There are mutual benefits for both KDOT and the employees who participate in the program.

“One of the positive feedbacks that we receive is how much quicker employees can come back to work,” Schwab said. “Instead of having a vacant seat they are able to come back sooner and be productive.”

According to Schwab there are only a handful of other state DOTs that allow infants in the workplace. She said she has been able to use KDOT as an example when she discusses this program with other agencies.

#IAMKDOT: Bonnie Hirsh

Stop by KDOT’s Dodge City Area Office and you’ll be greeted by Administrative Specialist Bonnie Hirsh.  

According to her co-workers, she’s always there with a smile and a desire to help. Hirsh has served as the Administrative Specialist in the Dodge City Area Office for just more than five years and fondly refers to her co-workers and the Subarea crews she works with every day as her family. 

Most days, Hirsh is busy processing payments, ordering parts and helping the crews with time card entries and other issues that need to be handled so the crews can do their work. She’s always willing to go the extra mile for those around her, whether it’s bringing treats for a celebration, or answering calls and updating road conditions during snow events.

In fact, her most memorable moment at KDOT has been the guys bringing her a sleeping bag one night, so she could catch a nap on the office floor during a snow event.  She says the best part of her job is her KDOT family and KDOT celebrations, like the summer barbecue and the Christmas party.

Hirsh graduated from Kinsley High School and attended Dodge City Community College. She enjoys spending time with her family, especially her granddaughter, Haddie. She also teaches religion classes at her church and enjoys reading mysteries, playing cards and cooking. 

Do you know a KDOT worker that deserves

recognition? Nominations are open - email Mallory.goeke@ks.gov today to get started.

Inside KDOT: Tracy Eaton has a hidden talent under the orange hat

Tracy Eaton, Equipment Operator for the Concordia Subarea

By Ashley Tammen, Public Affairs Manager for north central Kansas

When we think of the equipment operators here at KDOT we probably picture them in an orange vest and hat working hard on the roads but overlook their other skills, hobbies, or talents they may have. One of those hidden talents was found in District Two in Concordia.

Tracy Eaton's mixed media drawing of an angry snow plow moving snow, Snow Matter.

The Concordia Subarea employees and Supervisor, David Casper, discovered their coworker, Tracy Eaton, had been coming into work early every morning before getting to work so he could draw pictures. Tracy Eaton’s pictures were not just paper sketches that any person could draw but rather artistic artwork he had created of KDOT equipment and more. Tracy enjoys drawing and says he must have been born with his artistic talent because he’s drawn his whole life.  Although he has never taken art lessons, he did take 2^nd place in his high school art class!

Eaton's colored pencil drawing of a classic car. 

Tracy’s coworkers liked his pictures so much that they began asking him for specific drawings of the KDOT snow plows, cars, etc. Tracy keeps several sketch pads in the break room at work to draw in when he is on break.

Animal ambassador: KDOT employee rescues wildlife

Abbie Wisdom-Williams holds a raccoon she rehabilitated. 

It all started with a turkey.

“My cat started chasing it around,” Abbie Wisdom-Williams remembers.

Abbie lived in Wichita at the time, right in the middle of the city, and started feeding the turkey in her yard.

“I left the food out on the front porch, and pretty soon, there was an opossum and raccoons,” she says.

She quickly got hooked rehabilitating wildlife.

Abbie, a Senior Administrative Assistant in the Kansas Department of Transportation’s South Central Kansas office, has been a licensed wildlife rehabilitator with the Kansas Department of Parks, Wildlife and Tourism for about 20 years now.

Abbie Wisdom-Williams feeds a newborn skunk.

In that time, she has taken in a real menagerie of animals. So far this year, she’s come to the rescue of newly-born raccoons, skunks, opossums, foxes and bunnies. Fawns will start needing her help in June.

She and her husband, David, also have rehabilitated badgers, bobcats, beavers and coyotes.

Abbie would love to get a call about a porcupine or a baby badger.

“I remember my Dad trying to catch a baby badger once. When my parents got a divorce, they didn’t fight over me. They fought over who got the cat,” she says, laughing.

Abbie has loved animals for as long as she can remember.

She and her husband have a pet skunk named Isadora Skunkin and five dogs. The skunk came to them as a baby. Its hips are not functional, so the skunk scoots everywhere using the power of its front feet.

Skunks are her favorite animals to rehabilitate.

A new-born skunk receives milk from a syringe. 

“The beavers were cool, but they’re an incredible amount of work,” she says.

She gathered limbs and twigs for them and had to fill, clean out and refill a stock tank every day for them.

“I was trimming everybody’s trees” when she had the beavers, Abbie says.

Her least favorite animals to work with are baby bunnies.

“I hate raising bunnies because baby bunnies have a tendency to be fine one minute and dead the next and you have no idea why,” she says.

Her crowning achievement as a rehabilitator, she says, was a raccoon that had been badly burned in a wildfire in the spring of 2016 near Burrton.

Photos she took show the raccoon’s progress — from burned to the bone and unrecognizable to ready to release. The raccoon stayed under Abbie’s care for eight weeks. Caring for the raccoon wasn’t easy.

“It hated me, and that was OK,” she says.

A baby opossum drinks form a baby food lid. The young marsupial was brought in after a dog found it. 

She continues to rehabilitate animals because “it’s my way of trying to repay them for all the damage that we as humans inflict upon them. And I’m trying to educate people to give them respect and space and not be so afraid.”

Abbie gets referrals from fellow rehabilitators and calls from the public. She remembers one call years ago from a woman concerned about a rabbit she had seen on a neighbor’s porch. It hadn’t moved in two days, the woman reported. Abbie drove out to the area, looked around and called the woman to confirm she was in the right place.

“Lady,” she remembers saying, “that rabbit is cement.”

Preparing for winter weather: KDOT employees participate in snow-fighter training

Sunshine will soon be replaced by snow and when that happens, the Kansas Department of Transportation will be ready.

 In preparation for the upcoming snow and ice season, KDOT Equipment Operators from across northwest Kansas completed Snow-fighter Basic Training last week in Wakeeney.

KDOT Equipment Operators from across northwest Kansas took part in the snow-fighter training last week in Wakeeney. 

This is the fourth year the training has been held. Sessions were led by experienced KDOT operators and consisted of both classroom and hands-on activities. KDOT equipment operators learned about plowing procedures, chemical application, front and wing plow usage, spreader operations, towing safety, mechanic training and decision making. 

Earlier this month, crews in north central Kansas also participated in snow-fighter training. All new Equipment Operators, Equipment Mechanics and Engineering Technicians from the area received both classroom work and hands-on training. 

KDOT crews practice using maneuvering the snow plow earlier this month at the Salina Subarea.

So when the precipitation starts, your local KDOT operators will be on the job. No matter what the weather is doing, you can check out www.Kandrive.org for traffic and road information. 

KDOT crews underwent snow-fighter training earlier this month in north central Kansas. 

#IAMKDOT: Ciro Chavez

This month’s #IAMKDOT feature is Ciro Chavez.

Ciro began his career with KDOT as an Equipment Operator Trainee at the Lakin Subarea in southwest Kansas in October 2015.  He earned his CDL in December of 2015 and transferred to the Garden City Subarea in April of 2016.  He was then promoted to Equipment Operator in April 2016 and transferred to the District Paint Crew in July of 2017.

When Ciro is not at work he enjoys several outdoor activities including four wheeling and fishing. He is a music fan, a son and role model.  Many would also describe him as a fighter and survivor.

Prior to his employment at KDOT, Ciro was an EMT but he never thought he’d be the one to call 911.  Last year, he was involved in a head-on collision. His recovery may have taken several months, but he’s here to tell his story. And his story is one of 20 stories that will be shared from people telling why traffic safety is so important to them.

The four-week series begins this Wednesday and will continue until Oct. 10. Please read Ciro and everyone’s blogs that are part of the Put the Brakes on Fatalities Day safety campaign that focuses on reducing all types of traffic fatalities. Whether you are in a vehicle, on a bike/motorcycle or walking, the goal is for you to safely get where you are going.

#IAMKDOT is an illustration project that recognizes KDOT employees who work hard to keep Kansans moving. This series also serves as a reminder for travelers to slow down and remember that underneath those neon vests are individuals with families, friends and hobbies waiting for them at home.

Do you know a KDOT worker that deserves recognition? Nominations are open! Email Mallory.Goeke@KS.gov today to get started! 

#IAMKDOT: Kevin Jirak

This month’s #IAMKDOT feature is Kevin Jirak who has worked at KDOT for more than 31 years in Marion.  Jirak began his career as an Equipment Operator I and over the past three decades he has been promoted several times starting with Equipment Operator II, followed by the Area Crew Supervisor in 1993. Twenty four years later, Jirak now serves as Area Superintendent.  Among his many duties, Jirak oversees four Subarea crews and one Area crew.

“I have a group of good supervisors and employees that do a great job,” Jirak said. “My Area Engineer has been very helpful to me since becoming the Area Superintendent. This makes my job easier. I also take care of permits, visit and listen with the public about their concerns and keep an eye on maintenance issues.”

When Jirak is not at work he enjoys a variety of activities that include coaching kids in sports.  He also is an avid Jayhawks and Chiefs fan. Jirak spends time in the great outdoors as a hunter and fisherman. He enjoys spending time with his wife and four children.

#IAMKDOT is an illustration project that recognizes KDOT employees who work hard to ensure Kansans enjoy safe roads, rails and skies. Safe and successful transportation also helps Kansans financially. Some employees of KDOT fill dangerous but necessary positions and this project also serves as a reminder for travelers to slow down and remember that underneath those neon vests, are individuals with families and hobbies waiting for them at home.

Do you know a KDOT worker that deserves recognition? Nominations are open! Email Mallory.Goeke@KS.gov today to get started! 

#IAMKDOT Kicks off: Cole Peterson

Working in the field for KDOT can be a rewarding but dangerous career. KDOT workers face oncoming traffic, impatient and unsafe drivers, extreme weather conditions and many other hazards while maintaining our roads and infrastructure so communities can thrive.

It is time to recognize those hardworking individuals who risk their lives to keep Kansas moving.

This semi-regular illustration project, titled #IAMKDOT, is intended to highlight and bring awareness to the incredible work that KDOT employees do for our state.

These #IAMKDOT illustrations will be posted to our blog and other social media to remind everyone that these hardworking men and women aren’t robots. They aren’t slowing down traffic to irritate or inconvenience. They are working hard to ensure that our way of life is maintained and improved upon. It is our hope that #IAMKDOT illustrations will encourage the public to slow down, and treat KDOT employees with more respect and patience.

Featured today is Cole Peterson. He has worked with the District 3 Bridge Crew for four years. Peterson, 24 years old, said that he enjoys watching the Kansas City Chiefs and the Kansas City Royals. He also enjoys working on vehicles.

In this illustration, Peterson is getting ready to take the giant snowplow, Big Bertha out to clean up snow and ice from the February snowstorm that impacted much of the state earlier this year.