Reservist helps fellow firefighters in Nauru

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Chris Vadnais
  • Air Force News Agency
REPUBLIC OF NAURU (AFPN) --  A reservist used his civilian job connections in addition to his Air Force training to make life better for the people living on the island of Nauru in the South Pacific during a U.S. Pacific Command humanitarian mission there July 20 through 30.

Master Sgt. Paul Melkers, a Reserve flight medic with the 446th Operations Group at McChord Air Force Base, Wash., deployed to Nauru with 11 others as a joint-force U.S. Pacific Command team with the goal of providing assistance and training to the island's caregivers and first responders.

When he isn't wearing an Air Force uniform, Sergeant Melkers works as a firefighter on Seattle's north side. When he found out he'd be making the trip to Nauru, he decided to bring some equipment for the island's firefighters.

"Knowing that we donate equipment and gear sometimes -- equipment that doesn't meet our standards anymore -- I contacted my fire department and asked them if they had equipment," Sergeant Melkers said.

The NCO was able to score six large bags of firefighting suits and boots. The day after the team landed on Nauru, Sergeant Melkers delivered the equipment to the island's fire chief, Roy Harris.

"I wasn't sure what they needed, and he was like, 'No, we need everything we can get,'" Sergeant Melkers said. "They don't have the best of equipment. They're trying to do the best they can with what they have, so I can tell this stuff is going to be put to good use."

Chief Harris, who has been a firefighter for 17 years, said he appreciated the donation and asked Sergeant Melkers to come back later in the week to provide some training for his firefighters.

"It's very important to get training from overseas because right now the only training we're doing is localized training," Chief Harris said.

"I've been trying desperately to get assistance from overseas, like international update training, and we haven't had that for quite some time now," he said.

As a flight medic, Sergeant Melkers is well qualified to teach these courses. He brought two other members of the team, Tech. Sgt. Niki Smith, a reservist with the 446th Aerospace Medical Squadron, also out of McChord AFB, and Tech. Sgt. Michelle Bligen-Cox from the 35th Medical Group at Misawa Air Base, Japan, back to the fire station. The three of them taught a CPR refresher course and reviewed best procedures for treating broken bones and burns.

Nauru, once the world's richest nation per capita, is now in severe financial trouble. The fire station reflects this; a large portion of its back wall has collapsed. The only working fire truck is decades old and in disrepair.

"It's kind of disheartening being a firefighter in the civilian world and coming here and seeing what my brothers that work in the fire service here have to deal with," Sergeant Melkers said.

"They're sleeping on floors. There's no adequate area for them to get some rest, or to work on equipment, and there's no hope of new equipment coming in," he said.

"Yet you know when they get a call to go somewhere, they're going to take whatever piece of equipment they have and do their best. They're going out knowing that their equipment may or may not work. That's probably the hardest thing to see," he said. "I'm a firefighter, and I know I would do the same thing." 

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