General – Page 8

December 31, 2012

Blessings

The following is written by Nancy, one of our wonderful employees! Thank you, Nancy, we feel the same about you. What a way to start the New Year – all teary eyed.

When I am asked where I work, I usually have to explain what Ketchum Mfg. is. I always describe it as a family owned business that makes animal identification tags and then qualify that statement as not my family owned business. The reality of that statement though is Ketchum is family to the employees that work here. I have been fortunate to have worked with two generations of the Powers family and many of the employees have worked with three generations. Perhaps it’s because of the longevity of the employees of Ketchum that we feel like family or more likely it because of Lisa and Gary, like generations before them, go above and beyond to treat you like they would their family. My fondest memory of their Dad, Jay, is when I had to bring my car to the garage unexpectedly for repairs and as he was leaving for the day he asked if I had the money to pay for my car. I have been fortunate to have some great bosses over time, but that was the first time an employer offered to float me a loan and I’m sure if I had needed the money Jay would have been happy with me paying it off $5 a week if need be. Many of us have had family emergencies and no matter how busy they are, how short handed they are the first words out of Lisa and Gary’s mouths are, “go, take whatever time you need” Ketchum employees are not the only ones to be treated like family, many people in the community are afforded the same generosity. Tools in the shop, Gary’s expertise, the shipping department, fax machine etc. have been shared willingly, although you may jokingly be called a user, they are always happy to help out whatever the need. I am truly grateful to be able to work at a job where I am treated like family and in times of need, Lisa and Gary were right there offering help and support.

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December 7, 2012December 10, 2018

Structure Fire

“The building collapsed with four firefighters inside!” Our customer, Travis, called to tell us how well his fire company’s accountability system worked.

There were 27 volunteer fire companies at the working structure fire. I’m sure you can imagine how easily a fire scene can become confusing. The trucks are loud, there are fire fighters from different companies and the adrenaline is running high. Four fire fighters, including Travis, were inside the building and the building collapsed, thankfully, all four men were able to escape unharmed. A firefighter from one of the other companies was shouting that there was still a man inside. The safety officer assured him that everyone was out. He was correct and all of the firefighters were out of the building.

The fire company in charge of the fire scene has established an accountability system. Travis is our contact and he orders the 421-FF accountability tags from us. They use a two tag system, one tag stays on the fire fighter’s gear and the second tag is given to the safety officer when the fire fighter enters the building and is retrieved when he exits the building.

We are very proud to have our tags involved in programs to keep our firefighters safe. The design, implementation and consistent use of the accountability system is very important. The team needs to understand the routine and to use it every time at every scene.

Travis has had three of the volunteer companies that were at the structure fire contact him to help with the design of their accountability programs. He assures us they will be ordering their accountability tags from Ketchum!

Thank you, Travis, and all your fellow firefighters, for the dedication and time you spend training so that when we call, you are able to come to our rescue.

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December 4, 2012May 6, 2014

Color Coding Chickens

These free range hens are easy to tell apart and possibly all have names. On a larger farm identification bands are helpful in keeping track of the flock. Our poultry leg bands are available in a variety of colors to help track hatch dates and breeding pedigrees.

We also have customers that use these bands as tamper evident container seals and law enforcement agencies are using them as evidence tags.

Our 3 hole adjustable poultry leg band, catalog number 346, is available in plain aluminum, colored aluminum and brass. The overall band is 3-1/4″ long, the three holes provide three sizes in one band.

The leg band material arrives is thin coils. The colored aluminum is painted on both sides, we get a different color on each side, increasing the color choices available. When we get an order, the requested metal coil is placed on a large turntable and the material is threaded into the press.

Our customers can have up to three lines of custom information stamped onto the leg bands. The press operator selects the required pieces of metal type, which are very small, and sets them into the type holder. The type holder is then securely bolted into the top of the press bed. The automated number head is also mounted into the top of the press bed, the requested start number is selected.

The safety gate closes and the press is started. The material goes through several station in the press, transforming coils of aluminum or brass into customized poultry identification bands.

The personalized information is stamped into the metal
The required serial number is embossed
The sealing button is drawn up
The holes are punched out
The band is trimmed to length

Our leg bands do require the use of our sealing plier, catalog number 347, to get a proper seal.

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November 14, 2012

Yikes! Spiders

The picture of the giraffe up a tree cracked me up! I can definitely relate. My whole family has a fear of or at least a strong dislike of spiders. I know it’s not rational, that humans are much bigger and smarter and can usually move faster, but spiders give me a chill down my spine.

When we were kids my sisters and I always called on our Dad to solve our spider problems. We would yell to him and like our hero he would come to our rescue and kill the scary spider. You know you can’t go to sleep with a spider in your room. They watch you with those beady eyes and as soon as the light goes off they start slowly inching along on those hairy legs right toward you.

When my daughters were young they developed a “bug alarm”, theirs was a lot more sensitive then mine, they hate spiders, bugs, ants, pretty much every creepy, crawly! Unfortunately, as the Mom, I was the one that had to come to the rescue and kill the spiders. I can tell you, my bravery was all an act to keep the girls calm, I was about in a sweat every time I had to kill a spider. I usually need a shoe to squash them, no grabbing with a tissue for me.

My daughters are both adults and even now if they see a spider the “bug alarm” goes off and they yell for me. I can tell by the panic in their voice why they are calling me, I give them a little grief and tell them to man up, but then I go kill the spider and I still hate it.

My sister has retained her fear of spiders. She uses the vacuum cleaner, she can have the long extension on the vacuum hose and be nearly across the room to get the spider!

So like the giraffe, we’re keeping our distance from spiders!

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November 1, 2012

Great Night At Work

My daughter, Kate, works at an Emergency Veterinary Clinic. The Clinic is open when the regular veterinary offices are closed, overnight, weekends and holidays. Most of the pets that come into the clinic are severely injured or seriously ill.

On this particular Saturday, a boxer had 5 puppies at home, had been laboring for a couple of hours and not making any progress, so her owners brought her and the puppies to the Emergency Clinic. The Veterinarian took an x-ray and could see two puppies stuck, one in each uterine horn.

The staff members were not hopeful, usually puppies that have been stuck for a number of hours do not survive. The Veterinarian started a cesarean section and pulled out, one, two and surprise three puppies. Each puppy was handed to one of the staff members. The puppies were rubbed and suctioned to stimulate their breathing.

Kate spent minutes rubbing and suctioning the puppy she was handed and rubbing some more and finally the puppy took a breath!

Happily the three puppies delivered by C-section all survived and after making sure they were latching on and nursing they were able to go home with their brothers, sisters, and lucky momma!

As you can see from the smile on Kate’s face – it was an awesome night at work!

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