Covering PUGET SOUND NAVAL NEWS for BREMERTON | BANGOR | KEYPORT
Navy News Kitsap
Volume 1, No. 48 | 24 February 2012
www.kitsapnavynews.com
New NBK child development center to open next month
Stennis is homeward bound
BREMERTON (NNS) – Naval Base Kitsap hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the grand opening of the base’s new Child Development Center this month. The infant and toddler child development center, which is scheduled to officially open March 12, will accommodate 64 children, ranging from six weeks to three years of age, and 25 new staff members. The facility includes infant, pre-toddler rooms and toddler rooms, a kitchen and training office space for staff and also three
SEE NBK | PAGE 8
Sailors man the rails aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis as the ship pulls into into Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam Feb. 17, 2012. John C. Stennis is operating in the U.S. 3rd Fleet area of responsibility while on a seven-month deployment. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Kenneth Abbate
Reagan sailor aids seizure stricken woman at dinner
A sailor assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, helped potentially save the life of a Silverdale woman suffering from a seizure in a local restaurant Feb. 4. Master-at-Arms 1st Class Kevin Fahlund was waiting with his wife Susan and their daughter to order lunch at the restaurant when a young woman, sitting in a booth across from them, went into a violent seizure. “As soon as I saw her I knew what was going on,” said Fahlund, who immediately went to the woman’s aid. The woman, who was convulsing uncontrollably, was situated in a booth in such a way that Fahlund had no way to safely move her to the floor, so he supported her head to keep her from hurting herself further. “(Fahlund) immediately jumped up and
took control of the situation,” said Mark Schaffer, the restaurant’s manager on duty at the time. “What he did was absolutely above and beyond, and he did all the right things to help another human being.” Fahlund’s actions and the way he handled the situation were nothing short of heroic, though he tells a humble story of the event and claims he did what anyone else would’ve done in the situation. He even credited his wife Susan for comforting the woman’s young daughter through the traumatic event. “All I did was keep her from hurting herself during the seizures,” said Fahlund, who has been stationed on board Ronald Reagan since September 2009, and was recently named Ronald Reagan’s 2011 Sailor of the Year. “I just wanted to keep her stabilized until an ambulance arrived.” Approximately two minutes passed dur-
ing the initial seizure before the convulsing began to cease, but then the woman exhaled and stopped breathing. She then became unresponsive, although she did have a pulse. Fahlund, acting on instinct and using training he received throughout his Navy career, adjusted her head by lifting her jaw, subsequently opening her airway, and used a towel to clear her mouth of any foreign objects. “There is no doubt the training I received from my Individual Augmentee assignments and all the medical training I’ve received as a first responder was essential to how I reacted,” said Fahlund. About 30 seconds passed after Fahlund adjusted the woman’s head before she began to breathe again, but she was still
SEE SAILOR | PAGE 2
this Edition Navy changes danger pay for deployed sailors......pg. 2 Washington state Legislature honors Navy............pg. 3 Dempsey spells out path forward...................pg. 4 Rum runners and U-Boats targets of Trippe......pg. 8