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Wichita's Mail Carriers Trying To Stay Cool In Hot Weather

Paul Sableman
/
flickr Creative Commons

It's hot, and people who work outdoors in Wichita have to endure the sweltering heat, including city letter carriers. How are they keeping cool?

Teresa Rash manages Wichita’s downtown post office. She supervises 66 carriers and their 47 routes.

“They can be out there anywhere for 6 to 8 hours sometimes carrying mail. It puts their bodies through the ringers, so to speak," she says.

Rash says it's important for carriers to stay cool in hot weather.

"We've given them all cooling towels that they can put in their ice bucket, put around their necks and keep themselves cooled off that way," she says. "They take pauses through the day, and we make sure that they stay hydrated whether it be with Gatorade or water or some kind of replacement to what they’re losing through sweat."

Customers have also have been leaving bottled water out for carriers.

"We have cool treats, popsicles when they come in out of the heat to stay cool as well," Rash says.

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Carla Eckels is assistant news director and the host of Soulsations. Follow her on Twitter @Eckels.

 
To contact KMUW News or to send in a news tip, reach us at news@kmuw.org.

 

Carla Eckels is Director of Organizational Culture at KMUW. She produces and hosts the R&B and gospel show Soulsations and brings stories of race and culture to The Range with the monthly segment In the Mix. Carla was inducted into The Kansas African American Museum's Trailblazers Hall of Fame in 2020 for her work in broadcast/journalism.