Firefighters help deliver baby in Eglin base housing

Kyle Vaughn, Timothy Panzer, Mark Merrill and Walter Carney, all 96th Civil Engineer Group firefighters, stand with Airman 1st Class Josiah Zimmerman, his wife, Leana, and their children during a visit June 20, 2016, at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. The firefighters helped the Zimmermans deliver their baby boy, Luca, at their home on base after responding to a 911 call. (U.S. Air Force photo/Ilka Cole)

By Ilka Cole, Team Eglin Public Affairs
Published June 24, 2016

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AFNS) -- Base firefighters helped deliver a baby boy after dispatchers answered an early morning 911 call from base housing here June 13.

When firefighters arrived, Leana Zimmerman, now a mother of two, was in her living room hunched over on the floor in active labor.

"Things happened faster than we expected," Zimmerman said. "Once we were downstairs, my husband told me to get into the car and I said, 'No, no, the baby is coming. This is happening right here, right now.'"

Leana's husband, Airman 1st Class Josiah Zimmerman, prepared to help his wife deliver their baby while on the phone with emergency dispatch.

"The baby's head was already through the birth canal and facing me," said Josiah, an air traffic controller apprentice with the 96th Operations Support Squadron. "Within minutes, the baby was born in the firefighter's hands and I was cutting the umbilical cord with their help."

The 26-year-old mother said the firefighters were calm, gentle and encouraging during the baby's birth.

"Although I only remember seeing their shoes, having the firefighters there was nice and reassuring," Leana said. "More importantly, they arrived at the perfect moment. I'm thankful they were there to ensure our baby was OK and take us to the hospital."

The firefighters didn't even have time to don their sterile dressing kit when they saw the baby was on the way. They realized the newborn had not taken his first breath when Leana's last contraction pushed the baby out.

Timothy Panzer, a 96th Civil Engineer Group fire captain, helped guide the baby out. He supported the baby's head when the shoulders exited along with the rest of his body. He cleared the baby’s airways and wrapped him to keep him warm.

"We train and exercise these types of scenarios regularly, but this was the first time I helped deliver a baby," Panzer said. "We are qualified emergency medical technicians at the basic level. We're able to assist with birthing and deal with obstetric emergencies."

Thanks to the quick arrival of the well-trained firefighters and EMTs, Leana and her 7-pound, 6-ounce baby, Luca, are back home and doing well.

"Hearing the baby's first cry was amazing. It was a rejuvenating experience," Panzer said. "This was magical. Several of us are fathers so we knew how special the moment was. We wanted to make sure Mom and Dad were well taken care of."

Timothy Panzer, a 96th Civil Engineer Group fire captain, holds the baby he helped deliver while the mother, Leana Zimmerman, looks on June 20, 2016, at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. Panzer, along with Kyle Vaughn, Mark Merrill and Walter Carney, also 96th CEG firefighters, helped deliver Luca Zimmerman in base housing after responding to a 911 call. (U.S. Air Force photo/Ilka Cole)

Air Force officials expand search for contaminants around Joint Base Cape Cod

Air Force officials expand search for contaminants around Joint Base Cape CodLevels of perfluorinated compounds in Mashpee ponds exceed advisory

www.capecodfd.com

Air Force officials expand search for contaminants around Joint Base Cape Cod
Levels of perfluorinated compounds in Mashpee ponds exceed advisory
By George Brennan 

FALMOUTH — A military cleanup team is checking for emerging contaminants near two ponds in Mashpee, even as its investigation of those same pollutants continues on Currier Road in Falmouth and near the Otis Rotary in Pocasset.

A total of nine homes are now being supplied with bottled water — six in Falmouth and three in Bourne — because perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) found in well water exceeds federal advisory levels. There were originally seven homes being supplied with bottled water because of the contamination.

In May, the Environmental Protection Agency changed its advisory level for PFCs, which include PFOS and PFOA, from 0.2 micrograms per liter and 0.4 micrograms per liter to 0.07 micrograms per liter for both. The agency also advised that if both are present, they should be combined as a risk. At the time, based on the change, the samples at four houses were at levels above those recommended by EPA.

“They came up with a new number that is protective,” said Jane Downing, an EPA official. Pregnant and lactating women are considered most at risk if exposed to PFCs, based on animal studies, she said.

The Air Force Civil Engineer Center has since added Johns Pond and Ashument Pond to its testing and found levels of PFCs above the drinking water advisory. Levels ranged from 0.078 to 0.18 micrograms per liter for the two compounds in both ponds.
The ponds were tested because elevated levels were found nearby on Joint Base Cape Cod and just outside the base boundary where a firefighter training site was once located, said Rose Forbes, remediation director for the Air Force. PFCs are a chemical used in firefighting foam and may be the source of the contamination, she said.
About a dozen homeowners attended an informational session Wednesday night with the Air Force and environmental regulators at the Unitarian Universalist Church in East Falmouth. Several expressed frustration at the slow pace of getting approved for water filtration systems and concern over the changing results.

“I’d like to see them put in town water, it’s a really small link,” said Susan Houghton, who owns an affected rental property. “It’s really a guessing story. You have to wait to get the samples done. Meanwhile, young people are risk.”

Donald McCarthy owns one of the houses that tested above the federal advisory in May and had another that was just below. This time, both are above the health advisory.
“We knew it was only a matter of time,” he said.
McCarthy is pushing for water filtration systems for both houses and said he is frustrated by the pace after Forbes said it would take another four to six months to secure government funding for the systems.

McCarthy's neighbor James Hocking has seen levels in test results creep up, but not enough to warrant a bottled water delivery paid for by the Air Force. Hocking has lived in the neighborhood long enough to remember when discussions about groundwater contamination were at a fever pitch on the base and wondered aloud why Currier Road was passed by at that time.
“I think it was bad planning, bad decisions and I'm on the wrong end of these bad plans and bad decisions,” he said.

The Air Force has been testing private wells in the neighborhood for about a year since 1,4 dioxane, another emerging contaminant, was found in water being discharged from one of its treatment plants into a trench. As a precaution, the military has stopped using that trench to return water back into the environment.

The Air Force is still doing outreach in a neighborhood near Johns Pond in Mashpee. While most of the neighborhood is on a public drinking-water supply, there are some private wells, said Douglas Karson, a community outreach coordinator for the cleanup program. Karson is hoping to identify them and set them up for quarterly testing, he said.
Anyone who has a private drinking-water well in that area can contact Karson for testing at 508-968-4678, extension 2, or by email at douglas.karson@us.af.mil.
Marc Nascarella, director of environmental toxicology programs for the state Department of Public Health, said the ponds are safe for “incidental exposure” like boating and swimming, but are already off limits for consuming fish because of high mercury levels.
Fish have not been tested for PFCs, though Forbes said that’s something that’s being considered.

— Follow George Brennan on Twitter: @gpb227.

467th Engineer Battalion Firefighters

FORT MCCOY, WI, UNITED STATES
07.19.2016
Photo by Spc. Cody Hein
86th Training Division

U.S. Army Soldiers (from left) Spc. Nicholas Kudlacz, Spc. Kenneth Young, Spc. Brandon Tauzin, Spc. Andrew Cuva, with the 294th Engineer Detachment, 467th Engineer Battalion, Creston, Iowa, participate in firefighting training during Warrior Exercise (WAREX) 86-16-03 at Fort McCoy, Wis., July 19, 2016. WAREX is designed to keep soldiers all across the United States ready to deploy. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Cody Hein/Released)

U.S. Army Sgt. Michael Berry, 294th Engineer Detachment, 467th Engineer Battalion, Creston, Iowa, checks for a tight seal around his mask as he prepares for a firefighting training event during Warrior Exercise (WAREX) 86-16-03 at Fort McCoy, Wis., July 19, 2016. WAREX is designed to keep soldiers all across the United States ready to deploy. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Cody Hein/Released)

U.S. Army Cpl. Adam Harris from the 398th Engineer Detachment, Creston, Iowa, operates a M1158 HEMTT-based Water Tender during a firefighting training event during Warrior Exercise (WAREX) 86-16-03 at Fort McCoy, Wis., July 19, 2016. WAREX is designed to keep soldiers all across the United States ready to deploy. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Cody Hein/Released)

Coast Guard pulls two men from Bogue Inlet after their boat capsizes

Courtesy Photo | Coast Guard Fireman Apprentice Michael Skvasik and Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Tomcany, both crew members at Station Emerald Isle, North Carolina, prepare to hoist Don Midgett from the water in Bogue Inlet July 16, 2016. The engine of Midgett's boat failed shortly before the boat took on water and capsized. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Sarah Welvaert/Released) 

NC, UNITED STATES
07.19.2016
Story by Petty Officer 3rd Class Corinne Zilnicki
U.S. Coast Guard District 5

The waters of Bogue Inlet were choppy on the morning of July 16, 2016. With 10- to 15-knot winds whipping the waves into frothy disarray, the inlet posed a challenge for boaters attempting to safely navigate the moody waters.

For Don Midgett and Timothy Rollins, two boaters who were trying to wrestle their way through the inlet that morning, the conditions proved too rough for their 22-foot Sea Hawk.

The boat’s outboard engine failed, leaving the two men helpless to react as the current pushed their vessel onto the sandbar.

At 9:36 a.m., their boat began to take on water.

At 9:43 a.m., the boat capsized. Midgett and Rollins had only enough time to grab their lifejackets before tumbling into the churning water.

After receiving a call from a bystander, four crew members from U.S. Coast Guard Emerald Isle arrived on scene in their 24-foot rescue boat at 9:50 a.m., arms outstretched.

“Getting there quickly was vital,” said Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Tyler McGuinness, a boatswain’s mate at Station Emerald Isle. “It’s hard because things change constantly.”

When the Coast Guard crew first embarked and made their way to the scene, they said they thought they were just dealing with a vessel taking on water.

“As soon as we heard the boat had capsized, things got more serious,” said McGuinness, the coxswain of the crew. “It fired everyone up. Adrenaline kicked in.”

Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Tomcany, a boatswain's mate, and Fireman Apprentice Michael Skvasik, another crew member, were able to pull both men from the water and onto the Special Purpose Craft-Shallow Water boat in a matter of minutes.

Coast Guardsmen at Station Emerald Isle routinely practice recovering people from the water, which McGuinness said helped his team execute the rescue so well.

“The crew performed perfectly,” he said. “They were on point.”

“When it’s the real deal, it’s a little more nerve-wracking,” said Petty Officer 3rd Class Sarah Welvaert, a boatswain’s mate and another member of the rescue crew. “All you want is to get them aboard safely.”

Although shaken and in shock, Midgett and Rollins were otherwise unharmed.

“They were both just really happy to be out of the water,” said Skvasik.


A 22-foot Sea Hawk floods and capsizes in Bogue Inlet, North Carolina, July 16, 2016. Don Midgett and Timothy Rollins, the two men aboard the boat, were thrown into the water and quickly rescued by a four-person crew from U.S. Coast Guard Station Emerald Isle. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Sarah Welvaert/Released)

The rescue crew brought the two men to the station, where an emergency medical services team evaluated them and deemed them both in good health.

“If they hadn’t managed to grab their lifejackets, and if we hadn’t been able to respond so quickly, it might not have gone so well,” McGuinness said. “But we got the outcome we wanted. The whole crew was stoked.”

Skvasik, who has been in the Coast Guard for less than a year, said this was his first search and rescue case.

“I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I was going to be,” he said. “Everyone was focused.”

Welvaert, who has been part of many search and rescue cases while stationed at Emerald Isle, said she also found Saturday’s rescue fulfilling.

“That’s what everyone signs up for,” she said. “Being able to make a difference means everything.”

USAR National Guard trains with civilian agencies during PATRIOT North 2016

VOLK FIELD, WI, UNITED STATES
07.18.2016
Photo by Senior Master Sgt. David Lipp
North Dakota National Guard Public Affairs

Tech. Sgt. Dan Donahue, a fire fighter in the 182nd Civil Engineer Squadron, Illinois Air National Guard, Peoria, Ill., uses a power tool to breach concrete obstructions in a simulated building collapse to search for survivors in potential void areas of the concrete at National Guard training exercise PATRIOT North 2016 at Volk Field Air National Guard Base, Wisc. July 18, 2016. The Wisconsin Regional Emergency All-Climate Training Center (REACT) is providing the collapse rescue training for National Guard Soldiers and Airmen at PATRIOT, which is an annual exercise held at Volk Field to test the National Guard’s capabilities and develop working relationships with first responders and government agencies. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Master Sgt. David H. Lipp)

Airman 1st Class Randle Taborn, a fire fighter in the 182nd Civil Engineer Squadron, Illinois Air National Guard, Peoria, Ill., crawls through concrete structures during collapse rescue training at National Guard training exercise PATRIOT North 2016 at Volk Field Air National Guard Base, Wisc. July 18, 2016. The Wisconsin Regional Emergency All-Climate Training Center (REACT) is providing the collapse rescue training for National Guard Soldiers and Airmen at PATRIOT, which is an annual exercise held at Volk Field to test the National Guard’s capabilities and develop working relationships with first responders and government agencies. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Master Sgt. David H. Lipp)

Staff Sgt. Robert Laidlow, a fire fighter in the 167th Civil Engineer Squadron, West Virginia Air National Guard, Martinsburg, W.V., pounds nails into a wooden support structure he is building while training for structural collapse emergencies at National Guard training exercise PATRIOT North 2016 at Volk Field Air National Guard Base, Wisc. July 18, 2016. PATRIOT is an annual exercise held at Volk Field to test the National Guard’s capabilities and develop working relationships with first responders and government agencies. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Master Sgt. David H. Lipp)

Airman 1st Class Dustin Spaulding, of the 178th Civil Engineer Squadron, Ohio Air National Guard, Springfield, Ohio, uses an oxy-acetylene torch to cut construction metals as Steve Berg, a senior instructor for the Regional Emergency All-Climate Training Center (REACT), provides instruction at National Guard training exercise PATRIOT North 2016 at Volk Field Air National Guard Base, Wisc. July 18, 2016. REACT is providing structural collapse rescue training for National Guard Soldiers and Airmen at PATRIOT, which is an annual exercise held at Volk Field to test the National Guard’s capabilities and develop working relationships with first responders and government agencies. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Master Sgt. David H. Lipp)

Tech. Sgt. Dereck Perry, a fire fighter in the 182nd Civil Engineer Squadron, Illinois Air National Guard, Peoria, Ill., right, uses power tools to create simulated rescue access holes in concrete as Ron Pizl, a senior instructor for the Regional Emergency All-Climate Training Center (REACT), provides direction at National Guard training exercise PATRIOT North 2016 at Volk Field Air National Guard Base, Wisc. July 18, 2016. REACT is providing structural collapse rescue training for National Guard Soldiers and Airmen at PATRIOT, which is an annual exercise held at Volk Field to test the National Guard’s capabilities and develop working relationships with first responders and government agencies. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Master Sgt. David H. Lipp)

Tim Busse, of Team Rubicon, right, demonstrates the operation of a chainsaw during an instructional 'sawyer' class while Senior Airman Rashad Richards, left and Staff Sgt. Carlos Trotman, both of the 285th Civil Engineer Squadron, Virgin Islands Air National Guard, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, in the early stages of National Guard training exercise PATRIOT North 2016 at Volk Field Air National Guard Base, Wisc. July 18, 2016. Team Rubicon is a civilian volunteer organization made up military veterans and first responders, created to rapidly deploy emergency response teams to various types of disasters at the request of federal, state and county agencies. PATRIOT is an annual exercise held at Volk Field to test the National Guard’s capabilities and develop working relationships with first responders and government agencies. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Master Sgt. David H. Lipp)