7 New CT Troopers Decorated For Saving Life Of Fellow Trainee

MIDDLETOWN, CT — Seven new Connecticut state troopers Thursday received awards at their graduation ceremony for their life-saving efforts on a fellow recruit who collapsed at the training academy last summer.

After being sworn in as state troopers this morning during their graduation from the State Police Training Academy, the seven recruits, along with two Academy instructors, were awarded the Medal for Lifesaving for responding to another recruit suffering from a severe medical emergency, officials said.

It is believed to be the first time newly sworn troopers in Connecticut were awarded medals at their graduation, officials said.

Receiving medals were:

• Trooper Trainee Gunner Nunn
• Trooper Trainee Julia Gettings
• Trooper Trainee Justin Trzaski
• Trooper Trainee Kelly Mazza
• Trooper Trainee Lina Vivo
• Trooper Trainee Nicholas Jamaitus
• Trooper Trainee Donnell Niles
• Trooper First Class Donald Dunning, Academy Instructor
• Sgt. Jason St. John, Academy Instructor

The situation took place on Aug. 18 during week nine of training. That day, a recruit suffered a medical emergency during the early morning hours, officials said. Two roommates began tending to her, and other recruits, some with extensive medal training, arrived to assist.

Academy staff members and recruits then coordinated ambulatory transport to Midstate Medical Center in Meriden and made contact with the family of the recruit, officials said. Doctors and staffers at Midstate quickly determined that the recruit required "urgent treatment" at a facility with a higher level of care, but severe thunderstorms prevented transport by helicopter, officials said.

An ambulance transporting the recruit to Yale-New Haven Hospital was struggling to navigate through heavy traffic caused by the bad weather during the morning commute, but academy staffers were able to clear a path and escort the ambulance with emergency lights and sirens to New Haven, officials said.

Once at the hospital, the recruit was rushed into an operating room, officials said. They termed the situation "life-threatening."

"Both the Yale medical team and the recruit's family directly attributed the patient's survival to the immediate response of academy staff and recruits," sate police said. "At a time of crisis, the support demonstrated by the staff and recruits during and after the incident displayed professionalism and care that went above and beyond expectations."