A K LEO T H E
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4 to TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2013 VOLUME 109 ISSUE 27
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’ p o C p o ‘T ALDEN ALAYV LAYVILLA Staff Writ Writer Campus Security offi of cer John D. Trojacek earned the “Top Cop” award “T through his life-saving actions during the First Hawaiian Bank Ban Troy Barboza Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics in May. Trojacek’s peers and superiors nominated him for the award, which is presented w annually to law enforcement officers who enforcem have gone above the call of o duty, according to Phyllis Look, marketing marketin and communications manager at UH Mānoa. Among Trojacek’s superiors is Campus Security C Captain Alberta Pukahi, a former recipient of the “Top Cop” award. “We are proud to have ha Officer Trojacek on the Campus Security force,” Pukahi said in an email. email “His conscientious behavior and professionalism in pro handling the situation at a the Torch Run is typical of this modest officer and well deserving of the ‘Top Cop’ Co award.”
THE INCIDENT During the Torch R Run on May 24, Trojacek and a team of Campus Seassisted HPD officers curity officers assiste with traffic control.
As Trojacek helped HPD, he noticed a fellow correctional officer lying unresponsive on the ground. Trojacek witnessed “several HPD officers, some fellow runners, all acting in fight-or-flight, super-adrenaline mode, doing CPR compressions on the fallen runner.” “There was no one providing rescue breaths at the time of my arrival, and it seemed to be pretty chaotic, with people yelling for help and compressions being delivered at way too fast a rate and in the wrong location,” Trojacek said in an email. “Everyone wanted to help, but nothing was in sync.” Trojacek, who is EMT certified and worked as a fireman, remained calm and coordinated everyone’s efforts, according to Pukahi. “We were able to bring him back to life four times while we were doing CPR — the guy was such a fighter — but that just added to the intensity of the scene,” Trojacek said. Trojacek said another officer was able to deliver an AED to the scene. “We hooked it up and delivered a shock, which brought him back for a short period of time, but his heart stopped again, so we continued CPR,” Trojacek said. “Finally, an ambulance arrived, took over patient care and rushed him to a hospital.”
Officer John Trojacek has been with Campus Security for about one year. PHOTO COURTESY OF PHYLLIS LOOK
The next day, Trojacek learned that the fallen runner survived the neardeath ordeal. “I could not have been more relieved and happy for him,” Trojacek said. “During the awards ceremony, I had the opportunity to meet him again. He is in a much better situation now, lost a bunch of weight and had a huge smile on his face. Definitely a lifelong memory.”
BACKGROUND AND TRAINING Trojacek has been with Campus Security for about a year. “I got my EMT certification and worked as a fireman with a local city department in the suburbs of Sacramento for several years before wanting to move up the ranks,” Trojacek said. Currently, Trojacek is pursuing a master’s degree in disaster management and humanitarian assistance. “My goal is to become an Emergency Manager where I plan response tactics to disaster and emergency situations,” Trojacek said. “My dream job is here with UH or maybe someplace else, but this job certainly has a lot to offer in terms of learning another aspect of emergency response because the university campus is a microcosm of a city.”