Service before self: Grissom command chief saves life

Chief Master Sgt. Robert Herman, 434th Air Refueling Wing command chief, recently saved a woman who was experiencing a cardiac emergency at the Indianapolis International Airport by utilizing an automated external defibrillator (AED). Herman has more than 20 years of experience being an active-duty, Reserve and civilian firefighter/paramedic.

GRISSOM AIR RESERVE BASE, IN, UNITED STATES
08.08.2016
Story by Staff Sgt. Katrina Heikkinen
434th Air Refueling Wing

He was going through the motions of Thursday nights before a unit training assembly, waiting for his baggage, when he saw out of the peripheral of his eye that a middle-aged woman had fallen unconscious. Surrounded by a group of people, with a tone of panic, he heard a woman say “CPR.”

With more than 20 years’ experience being an active-duty, Reserve and civilian firefighter/paramedic, Herman knew time was running out for the woman named Sue.

“The situation changed immediately from a woman who was lying down and exchanging words, to a woman who had become a lifeless body on the floor,” Herman said.

Herman immediately stepped in and assisted another woman helping Sue, a nurse, with chest compressions.

“At this point, only a few moments had passed when police officer brought an AED over,” he said. “I stepped in, analyzed her heart rhythm [with an automated external defibrillator], delivered the first round of energy, started CPR, analyzed her heart and delivered a second round of energy. By the second shock she regained a palpable pulse.”

After Herman had utilized the AED, airport fire crews, including Senior Airman Todd Williams 434th Civil Engineer Squadron fire fighter, responded and assumed care of the woman, who had experienced a cardiac event. She had become their patient; Herman walked away from the event, only providing police officers with his contact information.

“I didn’t hear much after that,” Herman said. “. . . Until a few weeks later when I received a call from Sue, thanking me for my actions.”

Herman said the woman he had saved called after completing rehab and was returning back to work. Thanking him for saving her life, he said he rarely knows what happens to patients after responding to emergencies, let alone receive a phone call.

“Nothing I did was at all heroic,” he said. “Everyone in the Air Force is required to take self-aid and buddy care. Everyone would have and so often do respond in the same way – this just happens to be my occupation.”

A fire apparatus engineer for the City of Omaha, Nebraska, Herman has learned to dissociate the emotional aspects of being a firefighter/paramedic. His ability to step in can be attributed to the many years of on-the-job experience and external Air Force training that has given him the ability to mentally take every emergency situation as a mental flow chart of “if-then statements.”

“It doesn’t matter that I’m a firefighter,” Herman said. “I responded in this situation because that’s what we – as Airmen – are trained to do. It’s service before self; it’s necessary.”

The 434th ARW is the largest KC-135R Stratotanker unit in the Air Force Reserve Command. Men and women from the Hoosier Wing routinely deploy around the world in support of the Air Force mission.

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ATV ride to raise money for scholarships

Mason Storm DeRosier 

By Jamey Malcomb Today at 4:00 a.m.

Mason Storm DeRosier was nervous. He was living in St. Cloud and in his first year of college training for a career as a paramedic at St. Cloud State University and he was wondering if he could handle the stress of being an emergency service worker and even if he would like it. So he did what he always did, he talked to his father.

Mason's father, Richard DeRosier, has nearly 30 years experience as an investigator with the Lake County Sheriff's Office and also as a firefighter in Silver Bay and has seen the uglier side of life as a police officer and firefighter. Richard counseled his son to try to detach himself from the situation and go about his work, a lesson Mason's father said has left him with "a little more hardened, calloused attitude."

Not long after they talked, Mason encountered an accident in St. Cloud and pulled his car over to see if he could help any of the injured victims. He told his dad, even from the small amount of knowledge he had from his courses, the reaction was automatic.

"I didn't even think about whether I could do it, whether I could handle it," Mason told his dad. "I just did it."

Richard said his son was always interested in pursuing a career in public service and doing what he could to give back to the community he lived in. After graduating from William Kelley High School in Silver Bay, Mason joined the Air Force to help pay for his education. After boot camp in San Antonio, Texas, he became a firefighter with the 148th Fighter Wing of the Minnesota National Guard. After returning from a deployment, he started college at SCSU, but in a tragic twist, Mason died suddenly April 9, 2015, just three days before his 22nd birthday.

To honor his memory, Richard and his wife, Lisa DeRosier, are organizing the "Storm the Trails" ATV ride Aug. 20 to raise money for the Mason Storm DeRosier Memorial Scholarship for those interested in pursuing a career as a firefighter or paramedic.

"What we want to do is honor him with scholarships for firefighting and paramedics because that was what he wanted to do and that was his purpose if you will," Richard said. "That was what his whole life was going to be about, that was what his career was going to be and where he was going to make his mark."

Richard said his son was "kind-hearted" and dedicated to a career of service and helping others, saying Mason told him once, "You have to be the change you want to see in the world."

Richard said during Mason's six month deployment to Kuwait at Ali Al Salem Air Base, one of the jobs that became most important to his son was his duty during dignified transfers, which is a procedure honoring the return of the remains of a service member killed in service of the United States.

"At one point he called me in the middle of the night and he said that he did some research on the guy that they had watched over and the guy was married, had two young children, played football and was just 26 years old and it just ruined him," Richard said.

Throughout his deployment, Mason kept in touch with his family through phone calls and Skype video chat. Richard said he would talk to his son at any time, whether he was working or not.

"I'd have him on the phone while I was working on a high speed chase or waiting on a drug bust and he was on the other end of the line," Richard said.

Mason loved his time with the 148th and he loved working as a firefighter with the unit. Richard said the 148th was all his son talked about after he returned and after his death, the outpouring of support from the unit for the DeRosier family was tremendous.

"In the days and moments since he passed away it was unbelievable support," he said. "I can certainly understand where he was coming from after the couple of years he was part of it."

Being a firefighter and a paramedic was part of the fabric of who Mason was as a person and his family wants to keep his memory alive by encouraging others to follow in his footsteps and hopefully alleviate some of the financial burden of becoming an emergency service worker.

The Storm the Trails ride will begin at 9 a.m. Aug. 20 in the Superior Hiking Trail parking lot on Penn Boulevard in Silver Bay. A $30 donation will get riders a barbecue sandwich basket as well as two drink tickets. There will also be a door prize all riders are eligible for and other prizes raffled off or available through a silent auction.

The ride will follow the state ATV trail to the site of Dixie Bar and Grill outside Two Harbors. The bar was destroyed by a fire in June, but owners Scott and Deanna Larson are close friends of the DeRosiers. Instead of the originally planned burger baskets, a mobile smoker will be brought in to cook the meat for the sandwiches.

Riders can purchase tickets in advance by the website the DeRosier family set up, www.masonstormscholarship.com or by going to the Facebook page, Mason Storm Memorial Scholarship Fundraiser ATV Ride. The family will also be at the start of the ride at 8 a.m. Aug. 20 to help register people the day of the event. They do ask riders to contact them through the website or Facebook page so they have an idea of the number of people planning to attend.

Coast Guard alerted to boat fire on Narragansett Bay

NARRANGANSETT BAY, RI, UNITED STATES

08.04.2016

Courtesy Photo

U.S. Coast Guard District 1  

Boat on fire in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island on Thursday, Aug. 4, 2016. Coast Guard Station Castle Hill boat crew responds as well as Narragansett Bay Marine Task Force.

Coast Guard rescues man after sailboat explosion

Petty Officer 2nd Class Justin Cravens, a crew member aboard a 45-foot Response Boat-Medium from Coast Guard Station Fort Myers Beach, Florida, responds to a sailboat explosion in Back Bay, Florida, Friday, Aug. 5, 2016. The sailboat came free from its mooring and caught another sailboat on fire. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Seaman Kerry Doris

FORT MYERS BEACH, FL, UNITED STATES
08.05.2016
Photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Ashley Johnson
U.S. Coast Guard District 7 PADET Tampa Bay

Photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Ashley Johnson 

U.S. Coast Guard District 7 PADET Tampa Bay

A 45-foot Response Boat-Medium boat crew from Coast Guard Station Fort Myers Beach, Florida, responds to a sailboat explosion in Back Bay, Florida, Friday, Aug. 5, 2016. The boat crew rescued a 70-year-old man aboard the boat. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Seaman Kerry Doris

Reserve Airmen Stand Ready to Help Fight Wildfires

Air Force Lt. Col. Luke Thompson, with the Air Force Reserve Command's 302nd Airlift Wing, stands in front of a C-130 Hercules aircraft equipped with a Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., July 26, 2016. DoD photo by Lisa Ferdinando

By Lisa Ferdinando
DoD News, Defense Media Activity

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo., Aug. 4, 2016 — for On the flight line here, Air Force Lt. Col. Luke Thompson, with the Air Force Reserve Command's 302nd Airlift Wing, describes being at the controls of an aircraft carrying the Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System, or MAFFS, during a firefighting operation as “the mission where you get the most feedback [and] immediate feedback.

The firefighting system is owned by the U.S. Forest Service and can carry about 3,000 gallons of water or fire retardant, Thompson explained. It can discharge the load in less than five seconds, and cover an area of one-quarter of a mile long by 100 feet wide, he said.

"You see immediately what you're doing -- or sometimes not able to do," the pilot, a dual military-civilian Air Reserve Technician, said last week while standing in front of a MAFFS-equipped C-130 Hercules aircraft. "Because it's literally there's fire [and] there's maybe some houses and you're dropping in between. That's a pretty good feeling."

Once the water or retardant is dropped, the plane can go to a military or civilian tanker base to refill, he said. The load can be replenished in minutes.

Ready for the Call

The 302nd Airlift Wing is busy with many other missions, including global deployments, but the MAFFS crews are always ready to support the U.S. Forest Service in the firefighting efforts, Thompson said.

"We're just waiting for the call if they get to the point where they more assets," Thompson. "We're the surge capability."

Case in point: a MAFFS-equipped C-130 and crew departed yesterday from Peterson Air Force Base to support firefighting efforts in the western United States. The 302nd received a request earlier in the week from the National Interagency Fire Center, according to a news release from the 302nd Airlift Wing public affairs office.

During this current deployment, which is their first firefighting mission of 2016, the 302nd reservists are expected to fly missions from Boise, Idaho, and other western U.S. locations as needed. A MAFFS crew from Wyoming is also taking part in the deployment.

Unique Mission, Rewarding Work

The firefighting missions are harder on the aircraft than other missions, so the C-130s in the MAFFS deployments are inspected more often than other aircraft, explained Senior Master Sgt. Tye Taylor, a maintenance flight chief with the 302nd Airlift Wing.

A mission with MAFFS would typically include 28 to 30 people -- six crewmembers for two planes and 14 maintenance personnel and a few operation workers, Taylor said.

While there are no nighttime MAFFS flights, the firefighting efforts can still mean busy days for the crews, he added.

"When things are breaking, we'll be working probably a 14-to-16-hour day," Taylor said.

The mission is unique, the 302nd Airlift Wing release said. The Defense Department, through U.S. Northern Command, provides the military support to firefighting efforts when requested by the National Interagency Fire Center and approved by the secretary of defense.

"These diverse mission assets are prepared to respond quickly and effectively to protect lives, property, critical infrastructure and natural resources, and can include, but are not limited to, MAFFS, military helicopters and ground forces capable of supporting the firefighting efforts," the news release said.

MAFFS-equipped C-130s are operated by four military airlift wings: the 302nd Airlift Wing, U.S. Air Force Reserve Command; the 153rd Airlift Wing, Wyoming Air National Guard; 146th Airlift Wing, California Air National Guard; and the 145th Airlift Wing, North Carolina Air National Guard.

Each airlift wing has two MAFFS-equipped aircraft, for a total of eight nationwide.

(Follow Lisa Ferdinando on Twitter: @FerdinandoDoDNews)

Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Tye Taylor is a maintenance flight chief with the 302nd Airlift Wing and assigned to work on C-130 Hercules aircraft equipped with Modular Airborne Fire Fighting Systems at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., July 26, 2016. DoD photo by Lisa Ferdinando