New York Medical College (NYMC), a member of Touro University, announced its expanded partnership with Yonkers Public School District, bringing hands-on, life-saving training to all Yonkers school professionals including teachers, school officials, administrators, school safety officers, teaching assistants, and nursing staff. The partnership is a district-wide safety initiative led by NYMC’s Center for Disaster Medicine (CDM).

The expanded program builds on the CDM’s original pilot initiative, which trained nearly 4,000 educators and staff across all 29 Yonkers schools during the 2023-24 school year and the on-going partnership to provide preparedness training. The renewed partnership comes at the request of the Yonkers Public School District, which sought to extend comprehensive emergency readiness training to all levels of district professionals following the success of the current program. The goal of this new effort is to ensure all school professionals are prepared to respond to medical emergencies until further help arrives by providing key interventions that are needed to save a life prior to EMS arrival.

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In August, 115 members of the Yonkers Public School administration, including 10 members of the Executive Cabinet, participated in Basic Life Support (BLS) training at the Barack Obama School for Social Justice. The training covered CPR, choking response and opioid overdose intervention. Additionally, staff completed the Stop the Bleed and Epi-Pen training, 120 teaching assistants received hands-on CPR/AED training, Stop the Bleed and other lifesaving interventions, and 74 members of the district’s nursing staff completed BLS, Stop the Bleed, Narcan, and Epi-Pen training at the Yonkers Riverside Public Library.

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“I am pleased that, thanks to New York Medical College, Yonkers Public Schools teachers and staff will receive critical, hands-on training to prepare them to respond to medical emergencies. In a life-threatening emergency, every second counts. Through this training, we will ensure that adults in our schools have the skills, training, and confidence to act immediately while EMS and medical professionals are on their way. I was proud to advocate for state funding this year and previous years to support this important initiative, and I am grateful to Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins for ensuring its inclusion in the final state budget. I thank New York Medical College for bringing its expertise to our schools, and I thank Yonkers Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Aníbal Soler, Jr. and his team for their commitment to keeping our students safe,” said Senator Shelley Mayer.