| Four Bridgeport firefighters are the recipients of the 2010 Fairfield County Hero Award from Bridgeport Hospital for rescuing a disabled man and his cat from a Glendale Avenue apartment fire in April. Lieutenant Salvatore Emanuel, Firefighters Lamont Jones and Terrence O’Connell, and Pumper Engineer Zoltan Szabo of Engine 12 were the first to arrive at the scene of the April 1 fire. They found the disabled man on a couch in his living room, unable to reach his wheelchair. The responders carried the man to safety and then saved the man’s cat by using a child’s oxygen mask to resuscitate it. The man was brought to Bridgeport Hospital for treatment of burns and smoke inhalation. In all, a dozen nominees were recognized at the annual Fairfield County Hero Award ceremony on May 20. Established in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, the award recognizes the heroic actions of area police officers, firefighters and ambulance personnel and their important partnership with hospital trauma and emergency caregivers in saving lives. “Thank you for everything you to keep the residents of our area safe and help them whenever they may need emergency assistance,” said hospital President & CEO Bob Trefry in welcoming the nominees. This year’s other nominees included: Sergeant Jason Amato and Officer Dave Uliano of the Bridgeport Police Department, whose crackdown on gang activity, illegal firearms possession and narcotics trafficking on the city’s East Side has resulted in more than 140 arrests during the past year. Captain John Mazza of the Bridgeport Fire Department, for saving a man who lost control of his motorcycle and plunged into Hoadley’s Pond in Seymour last July. (Mazza was off duty at the time.) Assistant Fire Chief Daniel Ross of the Stratford Fire Department, who single-handedly rescued a man from a Bowe Avenue house fire last October, minutes before the home was consumed by flames. Officer Michael Sigrist of the Bridgeport Police Department, for racing into the surf at Seaside Park during a storm last September to save a woman from drowning. Officer Robert Simpson of the Bridgeport Police Department, who advanced into the line of fire to save his partner during a shootout with a criminal suspect. Fairfield Firefighter Dennis Eannotti and Stratford EMT David Harden, who were recognized for dedication and community service. “You are all heroes to us and all deserving of recognition,” said hospital Chief of Trauma, Burns & Surgical Critical Care John Schulz, MD, to the nominees. “On behalf of the Bridgeport Hospital Trauma Team, I too thank you for everything you do every day.” More than 80 individuals, representing public safety departments in Bridgeport, Darien, Easton, Fairfield, Monroe, Norwalk, Shelton, Stratford, Trumbull, Westport as well as the Connecticut State Police, have been nominated for the Fairfield County Hero Award since its inception in 2002. All nominees receive a plaque and Fairfield County Hero Award winners receive a distinctive obelisk-shaped statue. A state-designated trauma center and the site of the Dr. Andrew J. & Henrietta Panettieri Burn Center—Connecticut’s only nationally verified burn center—Bridgeport Hospital has a newly expanded and renovated emergency department that receives more than 77,000 patient visits annually. The hospital also operates the Fairfield Urgent Care Center and Huntington Walk-In Medical Center. Bridgeport Hospital’s other specialty services include the Heart Institute, a state-designated Primary Stroke Center, the Norma F. Pfriem Cancer Institute, the Norma F. Pfriem Breast Care Center, the Joint Reconstruction Center, the Center for Wound Healing & Hyperbaric Medicine, the Center for Sleep Medicine, the Women’s Care Center and the P.T. Barnum Pediatric Center.
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