2010 REAL HEROES BREAKFAST, BREMERTON

MARCH 9, 2010

There are those in the community that give of themselves and do simple, yet extraordinary things when put in extraordinary circumstances. The Red Cross honored a number of people living in Kitsap and North Mason counties on March 9, 2010 at its Real Heroes Breakfast. They included a police officer who charged into a building on the edge of collapse, a doctor who travels the world to bring health and hope to people and two coworkers who put their CPR knowledge to work. Each of them are heroes, and each live in our community.

The Real Heroes breakfast is grateful to its sponsors: State Farm Insurance (Title Sponsor); The Suquamish Tribe (Breakfast Sponsor); Kitsap SUN (Media Sponsor); United Moving and Storage (Video Production Sponsor); and Bethel Avenue Book Company (Family Hosts). 

MEET THE 2010 REAL HEROES: 

Bremerton NHB Commanding Officer Captain Mark Brouker

Sponsored by Kitsap Credit Union

NAVAL HOSPITAL BREMERTON

Commitment to Community

Naval Hospital Bremerton (NHB) is regarded as the best Family Medicine teaching hospital in the Navy. It is a community-based acute care and obstetrical hospital, offering expert primary care, emergency care and a broad range of medical and surgical specialties. The staff includes 1,400 dedicated military, civilian, contract and American Red Cross volunteer personnel. 

Over the past year, Naval Hospital Bremerton saw up to 18 percent of active duty military staff deployed to support combat units in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait and elsewhere, as well as humanitarian aid and disaster response missions.

Despite the staff shortages, NHB personnel maintained a strong influence in the local community, volunteering countless hours to support to more than 40 local non-profit organizations or projects: Central Kitsap School District’s Culminating Project; Central Kitsap School District’s Community Finance Committee; Coach Upward Basketball Team (1st & 2nd Grades); Everest College Advisory Board; Boy Scouts of America; Tacoma Soup Kitchen; Northwest Harvest; Disabled American Veteran’s Association; Adopt-A-Highway; Benedict House; Bremerton Roller Derby; CFC; Clear Creek Trail; Concession stands at Qwest Field; Drug Education for Youth; Fish and Wildlife;  Girl Scouts of America; Habitat for Humanity; Illahee State Park; Jackson Park Elementary School; Kitsap Humane Society; MADD; Northwest Lutheran Community Service; Pediatric Brain Cancer Walk; Retsil Cemetery; Seattle Mission; Silverdale Baptist Church; Special Olympics; St. Vincent DePaul; Susan B. Kohler Cancer Walk; Toys for Tots.

It is this spirit of unity and sense of serving a broader community that brings Naval Hospital Bremerton the distinction of being named the 2010 American Red Cross Real Hero for Commitment to Community.  We congratulate Commanding Officer Captain Mark Brouker, USN and his crew for a job well done and a community well served.

Sgt. Wendy L. Davis, Bremerton Police Department

Sponsored by Group Health

SGT. WENDY L. DAVIS

Law Enforcement

Bremerton Police Sergeant Wendy Davis was in the office when the call came in. “Car into church, Eleventh and Veneta.” Sgt. Davis immediately responded to the location. At first, Our Saviors Lutheran Church looked fine. But as she turned the corner, she saw the 30-foot hole in the wall. The wood was splintered, the glass broken and smoke poured from the structure. Buried deep in the building, she could see what looked like a white pickup truck, the engine still running and tires spinning. Smoke was quickly filling the church with toxic fumes.

Sgt. Davis made her way into the church, aware of the structural damage, possible fire and even the possibility of the truck falling through the floor. Debris was strewn about and still falling from the destroyed pipe organ. The piano and pews laid in ruin. As smoke filled her lungs she opened the truck door and checked the driver, who was semi-conscious but unresponsive. His foot was on the gas pedal, which kept the tires spinning, which kept generating smoke. Sgt. Davis was able to turn off the truck’s ignition, but could not move the victim through the tight space around the truck.

She exited the building, engaged a citizen and another police officer, and together they where able to extract the driver from the truck and negotiate the semi-conscious man through the debris and the narrow passage. 

Bremerton Fire medics arrived on scene and provided First Aid to the victim, who had had a seizure. He made a full recovery, as did the church, some months later. Of the incident, Sgt. Davis says, “We do what we do everyday- we respond to calls 24/7.   We were lucky no one was hurt and he (the driver) was lucky, someone was watching over him.”

Dan Diamond, MD

Sponsored by Harrison Medical Center

Millie

Sponsored by The Bethel Avenue Book Company

Don Moszkowicz

Sponsored by Bremerton Abbey Carpet and Floor

DEPUTY DON MOSZKOWICZ

Emergency Response 

It had been a fairly quiet night in Kitsap County, according to Sheriff’s Deputy Donald Moszkowicz. That is, until he saw a light-colored vehicle traveling toward him at a high rate of speed. The deputy saw it cross the fog line and then abruptly cross both lanes onto the shoulder of the roadway. Moszkowicz turned his vehicle around and began pursuit of the erratic driver. 

With lights and sirens engaged, the deputy notified 911 operators of the driver’s actions.  The pursuit lasted only a few moments before it was halted for safety reasons. Deputy Moszkowicz shut down his emergency equipment, reduced his speed and continued driving in the direction of the speeding vehicle. He was the first officer to come across the arc of bright lights angled at the sky. The car had hit something.

Deputy Moszkowicz approached a curve that the speeding car had failed to negotiate. It had knocked down a power pole as it left the road, and then came to a stop atop a rock wall. The engine compartment burst into flames.

The driver was trapped inside. Deputy Moszkowicz could not extract the driver by himself, but kept the flames at bay with two fire extinguishers from his patrol car.  As additional sheriff’s units arrived, Moszkowicz continued to protect the accident victim’s life and keep the fire under control until Fire and Rescue personnel could arrive. He crossed the downed power lines a number of times gathering fire extinguishers from other responder’s cars as they arrived and continued to douse the flames until medical responders arrived and the driver was removed from the vehicle.

Jeremy Huston, Jerry Lane and Matt Camier

Sponsored by Kitsap SUN

BREMERTON FIRE DEPT: RICHARD RAILSBACK AND JERRY LANE

NAVY REGION NW FIRE AND EMERGENCY SERVICE: RANDY HYDE, SCOTT BERRY, SHANE C. REED, JEREMY HUSTON, & MATT CAMIER

Emergency Response

The initial call said only that a pipe fell and injured a worker at the Naval Base Kitsap in Bremerton. At least one EMT responded to the scene expecting to find a person hit by a piece of plumbing pipe and suffering from a headache.

Chief Keith Martini was on the first engine to respond to the scene and reported a very different story. A 15-ton pillar had fallen from a crane and crushed a contractor under its weight.  The victim was trapped, pinned between a steel I-beam pier piling and the pillar.

Responding medics from the Navy Region NW Fire and Emergency Services and Bremerton Fire Department coordinated efforts to free the victim. The crane was the only device capable of moving the 80-foot pillars, making normal rescue techniques ineffective.  And the only crane operator available was engaged to be married to the victim. The stress was palpable as medics from the Navy Region NW Fire and Emergency Services and Bremerton Fire Department coordinated their efforts.
 
Navy firefighters arrived, and the pipe secured at the victim’s side. Forty minutes later, the load was secured, a fork lift was used to move the pipe slightly and air bags inserted to protect the patient. The rescue team began an extraction plan as the victim was kept calm.  She went in and out of consciousness, but responded to questions and commands to wiggle her fingers. 

When the pipe was moved at last, medics rushed in and found the victim bleeding, in shock, with back injuries and a nearly-severed leg. They worked feverishly, stabilizing her and airlifting her to Harborview Medical Center. She lost her leg in the accident but is a survivor.  We honor the seven firefighters and paramedics responding to this call whose valiant efforts and combined training came together to save her life that day.

Sponsored by Takeda Pharmaceuticals

JENNIFER STOCK AND KERRA LAMPMAN

First Aid

Jennifer Stock and Kerra Lampman had recently completed Instructor Training in CPR and First Aid as part of their work as  VISTA volunteers serving with the American Red Cross. They had heard stories from classmates about life-saving experiences and wondered, “I wonder how I would react in an emergency.” A few weeks later, on a routine trip for lunch, they found out.

Approaching an intersection a block from the Bremerton Red Cross office, the women saw a person lying in the street under the bumper of a car. Jennifer parked their car safely, and the two grabbed First Aid kits and approached the scene, indentifying themselves as “Red Cross trained.” After checked the scene for safety, Kerra attended to the driver, who was hysterical, and called 911.

Jennifer approached the victim on the road. The women had no visible signs of injury, but had pain in her lower back and legs. Jennifer kept her still and assured her that help was on the way. She covered her with a blanket and checked her airway, breathing and circulation until medics arrived. She stayed with the very frightened woman as she was placed in a neck brace and on a backboard and eventually transported to the hospital.

Kerra stayed with the driver of the car, talking with the 911 operator, citing the location, relaying updates on the victim. She checked the driver, who was very upset, for signs of trauma or shock, and stayed with her until she was calm and had contacted a friend for support.

Both Jennifer Stock and Kerra Lampman took CPR and First Aid training because it was required for their jobs. They both feel very fortunate and say “timing is everything!”

Thomas and James Johnston

Sponsored by Safe Boats International

Comander George Suther

EO2 Steve Buckner

Sponsored by KPS Health Plans

COMMANDER GEORGE SUTHER, USN, & EO2 STEVE BUCKNER, USN

Workplace Preparedness

Commander George Suther saw that something was wrong in the administrative office area for the Public Work Department in Bangor. The commotion centered at a desk area, where he found an employee, Donna Burt, collapsed. Her coworkers had lowered her to the ground, and Commander Suther, trained in CPR, immediately checked for breathing. 

At first Donna had color, but her color disappeared and her breathing stopped. Commander Suther began CPR.  He was joined by EO2 Steve Buckner, who had recently completed CPR training and took over chest compressions while Commander Suther did rescue breaths. Other people in the office called 911, and medics arrived. Donna required a shock from an AED to re-start her heart,  and then her breathing and pulse returned.  She was transported to Harrison Medical Center and after a recovery period has returned to work.

Donna Burt is very thankful she survived her cardiac arrest, she is thankful to be alive, but she also wanted to thank her rescuers for their efforts in saving her life.  “They did something! They had this training. They saved my life. No matter how it would have gone, and I am happy it went the way it did, I would want them to know I am thankful for their efforts to save my life.”

Commander Suther and EO2 Buckner didn’t know each other before happening upon Donna Burt in need of assistance.  They did have the same CPR training through the American Red Cross and were able to immediately work as a team to save her life.

Sponsored by State Farm

KAYLA DYAN CARLSON & ED SPROUL

Good Neighbor 

The two boys were airlifted to Harborview Medical Center, where the younger brother spent three weeks in intensive care and another month and a half in the hospital. Despite the awful memories of painful burns Sproul jumped in to help the boys. “Somebody needs to help. Neighbors help each other out.  That’s what a neighbor does,” he said.