Cody Stevens is using his military experience to improve safety for his peers all over the state.
Stevens works for the Boone County Highway Department and won its 2023 safety award, Highway Department Director Nick Parr told the Boone County Council on Tuesday.
Stevens served in the United States Marines as a military police officer in Afghanistan.
There, he applied tourniquets and treated open wounds as part of his work.
He brought those skills home after the fight and saw a need in the highway department.
Stevens developed a slide presentation to teach highway workers to identify and treat grievous bleeding wounds in the field. The department viewed the presentation and shared it with other local road and street crews, Parr said.
Stevens also presented “How/When/Why to use a Tourniquet” in person at the annual 2023 Indiana County Association of Highway Engineers and Supervisors summer conference in July.
Being run over or backed over by vehicles or mobile equipment is the primary cause of road worker fatalities, according to the Federal Highway Administration. Construction vehicles represent more than half of those fatalities.
Other common causes of injuries or fatalities from 2012-2021 included workers being struck by objects or equipment, or trapped between those objects and equipment, according to the National Workzone Safety Clearinghouse. Electrocutions, crashes, falls and slips also play a role.
There were a total of 956 work zone fatalities, and an estimated 42,000 injuries, in the United States in 2021, according to the NWS.
Other awards:
Corey Moss won the highway department’s straight-blade competition in the 2023 snow-plow rodeo, while Cody Stevens won in the V-plow category.
Drew Hunt and John Belcher received the department’s mental attitude award for team-first thinking and willingness to jump into any task or role. Belcher was also honored for perfect attendance.
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