“When you’re talking about -25 degrees, wind chill factor ... people don’t last very long out in that, so we just want to encourage people to be very, very safe,” DeWine said. “Currently, our interstates are open, but we know that there’s a lot of backroads that are just not passable.”
DeWine said anyone driving should have plenty of clothes on, as well as clothes and other necessities in their car.
“What happens if you slide off a ditch? You know, it could be a while before the sheriff finds you. Just gotta be very, very, very careful,” DeWine said.
That careful approach applies to more than just the everyday driver. DeWine said a snow plow driver was called to escort an ambulance from Cincinnati Children’s to Mercy Anderson and back to pick up a child who needed to be transferred.
“They contacted the Ohio Department of Transportation, and we had a snowplow literally go in front of the vehicle that was taking the folks from the Children’s Hospital there,” DeWine said. “They got there, they did what they needed to do. They got to go back. So it’s just kind of the cooperation that you see going on.”
Cincinnati Children’s said its team received a request to transport a patient, a baby boy named Bryson, in need of a higher level of care. Because road conditions were so bad, Cincinnati Children’s transport team contacted ODOT to have a plow escort them and ensure his safety.
“We’re Ohioans. We don’t brag a lot ... we just sort of go to work, and we just do what we need to do and we just sort of take that for granted,” DeWine said. “But I think it’s one of the great things about Ohioans. They go fix the problem, and move on.”
Joe Estes is the ODOT driver who plowed the way for the ambulance from Cincinnati Children’s to Mercy Anderson and back. He said his shift had just started when his boss told him about the situation.
Estes said he didn’t have any worries during the ride, and kept a 30- to 35 miles-per-hour speed with the ambulance only as far as 150 feet behind him.
“It was just plow the way safely, let’s get there in one piece,” Estes said. “It’s probably the most important trek of my ODOT career. It wasn’t just pushing snow.”
Estes said roads were completely covered in snow. The drive, typically around 15 minutes, took him nearly half an hour.
Although he didn’t know much about the patient, Estes said as a father himself, the emotions of the journey hit him hard once they arrived at the hospital.
“Knowing I played a small, small role in helping this ambulance and this child and family make it ... it’s a feel-good story,” Estes said.
Estes, who has been an ODOT driver for over seven years, said he’s never done anything like that trip before.
“Nothing even comes close to comparing,” Estes said.
He urged residents to continue to stay home as ODOT workers shift their focus to side streets.
There were two others in the ambulance Sunday: Heather Lipps, a respiratory therapist, and Kelly Besl, the clinical director of transportation.
Lipps said she wasn’t sure the plan would work, but the team was hopeful.
“It was nerve-racking to begin with,” Lipps said. “But the minute that we saw Joe, we knew everything was going to be just fine.”
Besl said she was part of the team that made the decision to call ODOT and ask for help.
“We moved as fast as we could because we knew we were losing our window of time to get to that baby,” Besl said. “Time is everything.”
Lipps said the team focused on keeping the baby safe and warm during the transportation process, monitoring his temperature the entire time.
Besl said both Bryson and his parents are doing well.
“Every day is a positive day when we can save a child,” Lipps said.
Despite sharing the journey together, Estes only spoke to the ambulance crew on the phone. Lipps said they called a few times to make sure everything was going as planned.
Estes met Besl and Lipps for the first time in person while being interviewed by media on Monday.
“Thanks, Joe, we appreciate you, man,” Lipps said.
When asked his message to the family, Estes said, “I am thrilled to have taken a role in this operation. By no means am I the hero. I’m just a truck driver, and I absolutely hope everything works out for the best.”
About the Author