There was a moment of silence to honor those who were lost, those who survived and those who responded on 9/11 at the Bremerton Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks 'A Salute to Kitsap County First Responders' on Sept. 10, 2015.

Naval Hospital Bremerton (NBH) staff members were among those recognized at the event.

Senior Sailor of the Quarter Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Dawn Dillow, Junior Sailor of the Quarter Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class (Fleet Marine Force) Robert de Lange, Blue Jacket of the Quarter Hospitalman Carlos Rangel-Mejia, and Emergency Preparedness Coordinator Terry Lerma, joined others from Central Kitsap Fire and Rescue, Kitsap County Sheriff's Department and Bremerton Police Department for the event.

According to Aubrey 'Ace' Beckham, exalted ruler for Bremerton Elks Lodge #1181, each year the Bremerton Elks Lodge holds a special tribute open to the public to extend a thank you to first responders that support the Kitsap County area. This year an invite was sent to NHB to be included in the event.

"We wanted to provide an opportunity for Naval Hospital Bremerton to receive a certificate of appreciation on our behalf and afford a representative the opportunity to say a few words, not required but we always love hearing stories or words of wisdom from those in the trenches," said Beckham, adding that in the past emergency medical technicians and hospitals in general were not considered. "But being retired military myself, it just makes sense that NHB is considered when it comes to first responders. I am glad they are being represented."

Bremerton Mayor, the Honorable Patty Lent, shared her proclamation on the 'Salute to Kitsap County First Responders,' symbolizing that it's "fitting and proper to recognize all those who are worthy to be here tonight for their selfless acts of sacrifice."

For Dillow, the event held special significance. As a prior-servicemember, the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 on her country were a driving force to rejoin the military.

"What happened on 9/11 was instrumental for me deciding to come back and join the Navy to become a hospital corpsman," said Dillow, who has been active in handling several first responder roles in assisting with patient administration and coordination during NHB's Mass Casualty drills.

Dillow has also attended NHB's Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) course. TCCC is valuable training to ensure than once hospital corpsmen are deployed with a Marine Corps unit, they are ready to handle first responder care for wounded on the field of battle and prevent loss of life. The course is required within 90 days of any member deploying as an Individual Augmentee or to a Global War On Terrorism billet. NHB has active duty medical staff forward deployed in support of various overseas commitments such as Operation Freedom's Sentinel down range in Afghanistan.

Before transferring to NHB in 2013, de Lange, born in South Africa before immigrating to the U.S. in 1994, worked in Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton Emergency Department from 2008 until 2010. He got first-hand first responder experience when assigned to Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 265 in Okinawa Japan. There he deployed with the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade and 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit helping provide humanitarian assistance and disaster relief to the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdown in Japan. He also provided assistance with two typhoons in the Philippines and flooding in Thailand, which included casualty and emergency response, evacuation, and decontamination to the Marines stationed with him.

As NHB's Blue Jacket of the Quarter (BJOQ), Carlos Rangel-Mejia initially felt he didn't have the accumulated experience as others who have served longer to be recognized by the Elks. Despite his misgivings, during his relatively short time he has proven himself a capable and competent corpsman, as evident by his selection as BJOQ. As a technician, his physiological knowledge of the human body and investigation of health issues via laboratory testing has proven valuable. His work might not be classified as that of a traditional emergency first responder on the scene, but he helps provide the vital next step in patient-centered support by handing clinical patient care. As a clinical laboratory technician, he is trained in blood transfusion procedures and casualty care in regards to blood transfusion. He is part of the team that receives, tests, and provides blood units in any emergency the command is called upon to support.

"Coming out here helps us in providing our community a glance of what we do," said Rangel-Mejia

Terry Lerma is a fixture in first responder and emergency preparedness/management since being hired at NHB in 2007. He has been repeatedly cited by Navy Medicine leadership as having one of the top Medical Treatment Facility Emergency Management programs.

From the classroom to real-world training environments, the past year proved a busy one for Lerma, highlighted by Operation Fireball, a full scale, post-earthquake, mass casualty exercise combining federal (military), county and city assets that included four ladder truck 'mock rescues' of patients from the upper floors of NHB without incident. At the request of the Washington State Search and Rescue (SAR) Volunteer Advisory Council, he also served as an Incident Command System (ICS) Instructor teaching SAR ICS for multi-agency/multi-jurisdictional Search and Rescue incidents at the 2014 Washington State SAR Conference.

In his off duty hours, Lerma serves in the community as a volunteer firefighter and emergency medical technician (EMT) with South Kitsap Fire and Rescue (SKFR) as a lieutenant. His leadership and initiative led to being selected in 2013 and again in 2014 as Volunteer Officer of the Year. Additionally, he responds as a Search and Rescue Canine (SAR K9) handler with All Breeds Canine Search and Rescue (ABC SAR), and an Operations Section Chief for Kitsap County Washington Explorer Search and Rescue (WESAR).

For more news from Naval Hospital Bremerton, visit www.navy.mil/.