WYDOT employee assists injured motorcyclist

Employees encouraged to have medical kit in vehicle

By Jordan Achs

Alexander Barrett was driving near Boysen Reservoir in late-summer 2022 when he came across a motorcycle crash.

It looked like the motorcycle had lost control and wiped out just a minute or two before he arrived. Barrett, a senior safety specialist with Employee Safety, pulled over with some other bystanders to see how he could help. As he pulled over, he made sure to call the incident in to the Transportation Management Center so more first responders could start moving that direction.

“If a WYDOT employee out driving comes across a crash or other emergency, be sure to call it in to TMC,” Barrett said. “There’s not much you can do solo, but a team effort makes a huge difference.”

After calling it in, he threw on an orange vest and hat and grabbed his medical kit from his vehicle. Beyond his work with WYDOT, Barrett has 12 years of first-aid training with the US Air Force. As he approached the motorcyclist and started talking to him, Barrett could tell he was in shock.

Fortunately, one of the other bystanders happened to be an emergency room nurse. Together he and the nurse used bandages and other materials in Barrett’s medical kit to try to stop the bleeding.

Blood loss became concerning enough, however, that the ER nurse had to use the tourniquet from the medical kit. Meanwhile, a Wyoming Highway Patrol Trooper arrived and got to work flagging traffic around the crash.

More first responders started to arrive, and Barrett transitioned to helping the Trooper flag traffic around the scene. Due to the severity of the injuries, a helicopter soon arrived to life-flight the motorcyclist to a Casper hospital.

Barrett said the quick action by all the bystanders at the scene to help the motorcyclist, especially the early tourniquet use, “likely saved his life.”

Unfortunately, crashes, injuries and other emergencies occur on Wyoming Highways. Fortunately, there are ways to be prepared to help. In addition to the CPR and First Aid classes offered periodically throughout the year via the Employee Safety program, Barrett said the medical kit and supplies he had at the scene are all available to any WYDOT employee via procurement services. Available supplies include first aid kits, trauma kits, tourniquets, bandages, antiseptic, and more.

While the kits can certainly be helpful for employee injuries, serious crashes like the one Barrett encountered last summer make the supplies all the more important to have readily available.

“It costs nothing to have it on you, but everything if you don’t,” he said.

No matter if you’re driving a plow, patrol vehicle or just driving a state vehicle to the next town for a meeting, consider including an emergency first aid kit in your vehicles. You never know when you might need it.