There is no secret that Mr. C loves Thanksgiving. This year I decided to send our students off with a little sweetness thanks to our local NoRa Cupcake!! Have a great weekend everyone!

Cycle 5 was very fast paced! The sophomores jumped right into hazardous materials training with Fire Marshal Waznia. This included a practical exercise in level C personal protective equipment as well as a trip to I-91 to identify hazardous materials being transported. We were lucky enough to catch a few truck inspections in the process thanks to the Connecticut State Police!
Meanwhile, the juniors learned all about mental illness and how it relates to the trade; particularly to police, EMS, and corrections. As part of this unit, the students experienced what it was like for someone suffering from schizophrenia having auditory delusions. It was very eye-opening for the students.
The sophomores then jumped into their final FEMA class in preparation for operation the EOC; the National Response Framework. All students passed the online exam and earned their certification.
We had two other visitors to the program during the cycle, our newest addition to the program, Paul P. who is a retired member of the special forces community and Mr. Charles Grady of the FBI in New Haven. Both were great guests and we can't wait to have them back.
Perhaps the highlight of the cycle however, was junior Jay Lounds presenting a lesson he developed from scratch on the psychology of serial killers. It was extremely well put together and the whole class was glued to his every word, myself included. His presentation was extremely well researched and he was able to answer every question asked. It was impressive!

Running an emergency operations center is NOT an easy task. In fact, it takes significant training and practice. With the training and certifications under their belts, construction almost complete, and several mini-dry runs, it was time for our first large-scale trial run! Fortunately, we have many experts available to help us and had the privilege to bring in Lieutenant Sean Delaney of the Water Witch Hose Company of New Milford. Lt. Delaney is an Incident Command System and National Incident Management System expert and was able to bring his real-world experience to our classroom with a breakdown of the 2018 Macroburst that produced a number of devastating tornadoes across the State. Afterwards, students were divided into organizations such as police, fire, EMS, city, and utilities and then further divided into job functions. The student-led command staff had to develop appropriate objectives for the operational period and the teams had to work to meet the objectives as creatively as possible. The students had multiple briefings and used all of the resources available to them. The trial run was so successful, that the students had a flurry of ideas on how to improve our own operation and it was evident to the instructors that the Vinal Tech Emergency Operations Center is going to produce some impressive results and become a real asset to the Nation in times of need.

In remembrance of all those lost on September 11th, Vinal Tech held a flag raising ceremony with local responders, members of the military, and those who lost relatives.

CJPS has formed an official partnership with Middlesex Hospital! Having Middlesex Health as the sponsor for our EMR/EMT program will offer our students an amazing opportunity for access to first-class doctors, nurses, ER staff, paramedics, and instructors. We are very excited for this partnership and are looking forward to expanding it in the future!

We are proud to announce that over the course of the summer, Vinal CJPS students volunteered over 250 HOURS towards building our new home at Vinal Tech. These hours were hard work and hot but we had a lot of fun and ate our fair share of hot dogs. We are about half way there building our new home!

Since 2005, Connecticut has been home to one of the most respected SWAT Challenges in the world. Coordinated by the West Hartford Police Department and supported by dozens of agencies and corporations, the Challenge tests all of the skills a tactical team should possess from marksmanship and tactical responses to equally important skills such as emergency medicine and critical thinking under extreme stress. This year's competition hosted some of the most elite teams from around the world such as the Central Region ERT, US 75th Rangers, US Department of Energy, 344th Army Guard, Middletown, Hartford, and the Indiana State Police. Students from Vinal's CJPS program volunteered during the Z-Medica/North American Rescue Tactical Rescue Challenge which tested teams abilities to perform emergency medicine under extreme conditions and while facing active threats. The students were able to watch these elite teams use the same training they have received to treat patients in high-stress conditions. It was a great day!