Barksdale chief saves life at base pool Published Aug. 6, 2008 By Staff Sgt. Sarah E. Kusek 2d Bomb Wing Public Affairs BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La -- A chief master sergeant from Barksdale received Bossier City's highest lifesaving honor for resuscitating a 12-year-old girl after nearly drowning in a base pool. Chief Master Sgt. Ronald Gisel, 2d Communications Squadron, was awarded Bossier City Fire Department's Citizen's Lifesaving Award by Fire Chief Sammy Halphen for his heroic acts during a city council meeting Tuesday. Chief Gisel and his wife were at the West Gate Pool June 8, when he heard a commotion and saw a figure at the bottom of the pool. "I saw the lifeguard jump into the pool, but I was closer and it was just a reaction for me to jump in to help," Chief Gisel said. He pulled Sh'Tayna Gaines, who was unconscious but breathing, to the surface and squeezed her around the waist. She began to gasp for breath. "When she started coughing the lifeguard and I rolled her over on her side and tended to her until the paramedics came," Chief Gisel explained. The chief credits his quick reaction to his yearly self aid and buddy care training. "After 23 years of being in the Air Force and continuously going through the SABC course, what I did became second nature," he said. The chief, who has a daughter about the same age as Gaines, described the day. "While the events were unfolding, time slowed down and I felt like I was looking in from the outside," he said. "It didn't really hit me until a couple of days later what actually happened." Sh'Tayna and her mother, Geraldine, were in attendance when Chief Gisel received his award. "We're so grateful Robert was in the right place at the right time and helped our daughter," said Mrs. Gaines, whose husband, Staff Sgt. Johnny Gaines, is currently deployed. "We feel like he's part of our family now."