Middletown Students Recognized for Disaster Relief Help

Students at Vinal Technical High School in Middletown were applauded and recognized for their work helping a national team respond to Hurricane Ian.

Hurricane Ian slammed into Florida in September 2022.

The team of 51 students enrolled in the Criminal Justice and Protective Services Program helped through using the school’s emergency operations center. It is the first one ever built at the high school level in the country, according to David Cruickshank, the department head of the Criminal Justice and Protective Services program at Vinal Tech.

Students worked in 10 teams, gathering any useful information for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Disaster Medical Assistance Team on the ground in Florida.

“The sections chiefs they ran their sections in safety, communications, intelligence, security, logistics. It’s nice to know when bridges are open,” said Cruickshank.

“It's very important, because we're kind of their eyes and ears for the area. They're kind of preoccupied with keeping themselves safe, keeping everyone around them safe,” said Lindsay Agli, a junior from East Hampton who was involved in the operation.

Cruickshank said he was blown away at the students’ work.

“They spent hours and hours, working until 9, 10 at night, compiling these briefings. Every single morning we’d get a 26-page briefing in our email box. I was getting text updates. It was just incredible what they were doing. It really felt like we had an additional 30 or 40 people on our team down there because that’s the level of work we were getting. So, it freed our hands to take care of patients, which is why we were there. It was amazing,” said Cruickshank.

“It felt good to make a difference,” said Logan Cahill, a senior from Deep River lead the team of students.

“We're very proud of ourselves,” said Agli.

Students received federal recognition from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services along with a plaque and awards.