Commissioner Cassano, 45 Years of Service
June 7, 2014
FDNY High School Graduation
June 22, 2014
National CPR/AED Awareness Week: FDNY Foundation Encourages New Yorkers to Learn CPR
Every year, the American Red Cross marks National CPR and AED Awareness Week in June. This year, the week fell from June 1-7. The week spotlights how lives can be saved when more Americans know CPR and how to use an Automated External Defibrillator (AED).
This week, the FDNY Foundation focused on its efforts to encourage all New Yorkers to learn CPR.
The Foundation is proud of the Be 911 Compression Only CPR program offered free of charge by the FDNY and NYC Service. The goal of the program is to train as many people as possible in basic CPR skills and to educate participants on the AED used to try to revive someone suffering from cardiac arrest.
“It couldn’t be easier for New Yorkers to learn bystander CPR,” said FDNY Foundation Chairman Stephen Ruzow. “Through this program, an FDNY Emergency Medical Service Team will travel to you to do the training. It’s as easy as that. And you could save a life.”
CPR stands for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation. According to the National Safety Council, effective bystander CPR provided immediately after sudden cardiac arrest can double or triple a victim’s chance of surviving, but less than one third of all cardiac arrest victims receive bystander CPR. Additionally, the National Safety Council reports in situations where defibrillation is provided within 5 to 7 minutes after sudden cardiac arrest, the survival rate is as high as 49 percent.
“This is just another part of the life-saving efforts being done by the FDNY across the city,” said FDNY Foundation Executive Director Jean O’Shea. “This program lets us reach more people and hopefully, saves more lives.”
The Be 911 Compression Only CPR program is open to all ages.
