Dream Team Takes Action

In November 2024, North Haven (Connecticut, USA) police officer Alex Sinanis had been feeling tightness in his chest and shortness of breath. Earlier in the month, he had a fainting episode that put him in the hospital, and he was sent home with a heart monitor. One morning while at home alone with his two daughters, Alex started feeling a cardiac event coming on.

“My wife had gone out grocery shopping,” he recalled. After making a quick phone call to his wife to let her know what was happening, he turned to his nine-year-old daughter Analia and said, “Look, if I go down and pass out, just call 911.”

Shortly after that, Alex went into cardiac arrest, and Analia followed his instructions to call for help.¹

The area’s 911 center is located within North Haven’s police station. All Emergency Dispatchers are employees of the police department and fall under that chain of command. During the day, there are two people on the floor—one taking calls and the other dispatching them. They provide about 6,000 fire and EMS responses a year for their service area, which encompasses 22 square miles and the town’s 24,000 residents.

Emergency Dispatcher Michael Zona was the one who picked up that emergency call. With 22 years of experience and the Medical Priority Dispatch System^™ (MPDS^®) at his fingertips, all Zona knew at first was that a young child was reporting that her father was down in the yard. She was scared, but still able to give him the address and phone number.

Typing in Analia’s responses, Zona recognized the name and address. He and Emergency Dispatcher Margaret Prunier, who was talking to the ambulance and other responding units, knew Alex on a first-name basis. Both Emergency Dispatchers took the call with enviable professionalism. Zona is a lifelong resident of North Haven and also previously served as a volunteer firefighter in town. Prunier has 18 years of experience herself and has worked on an ambulance.

According to Deputy Chief of Operations Scott Bison, Zona “did a great job keeping Analia calm and getting information from her.”

At that point in the call, Alex was having agonal respirations, which Analia mistook for breathing. Zona used the Breathing Verification Diagnostic Tool and determined that Alex was, in fact, not breathing and went straight to instructions for chest compressions.

“You’re not going to hurt your daddy,” Zona reassured Analia as Prunier let responding units know that it was one of their own who was down.

Analia gave her father compressions until the first of the responders arrived—a police officer—and took over, telling her to go inside. The fire department arrived within moments of the first police officer, and Alex was taken to a hospital. He was put in intensive care, including a 72-hour induced coma.²

Miraculously, Alex survived and, after a long and hard road to recovery, he was able to return to his job protecting the peace in his town on May 5, 2025, a little less than six months after his cardiac event.

Both Emergency Dispatchers Zona and Prunier were recognized by the police commission and Alex and the Sinanis family at a ceremony. Analia’s actions have also been lauded. As a post on the North Haven Police Department’s Facebook page pointed out, although the chain of survival includes many links, none of it would’ve happened “if Analia hadn’t made the brave call.”³

In a video interview, Analia said, “After it happened, I felt like, ‘Finally it’s over! I can’t believe I did that.’”⁴

Deputy Chief of Operations Bison commends everyone involved, especially Zona and Prunier. “The system worked. We’re proud of that, and we’re proud of the outcome.”

Sources

1. Pitts, A. “North Haven police officer credits his 9-year-old daughter with saving his life.” NBC Connecticut. 2025; May 5. https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/north-haven-police-officer-credits-9-year-old-daughter-saving-his-life/3558959/ (accessed May 13, 2025).

2. See note 1.

3. North Haven Police Department Facebook page. 2025; May 5. https://www.facebook.com/northhavenpd/posts/pfbid02VihZvyCYevzp9QK1HhkazurCssKjEuAaVjpKBosM1Zn8byYmw1bCne2dJJQdSLsKl (accessed May 13, 2025).

4. See note 1.