Councilman David G. Greenfield is giving free defibrillators to four local Brooklyn organizations: the Boro Park Y, the Sephardic Community Center, Bais Yakov Day Care Center, and the St. Athanasius Youth Program.

Each Automatic External Defibrillator comes with a storage cabinet and CPR training for four members of each organization, all paid for via New York City Council�s Beating Hearts Initiative.

�This is something that we�re doing that is literally saving people�s lives,� Greenfield said. �Ambulance response time in our community is great, especially thanks to Hatzolah, but any wait time can be too long. Every day, people�s lives depend on these machines while the professionals are still on their way.�

Greenfield noted that the program�s free CPR training might be just as important as the free defibrillators.

�The machines can only help someone who falls ill at these community centers, but individuals with CPR training can save a life, no matter where they are,� Greenfield said.

�Let�s say a staffer at the Boro Bark Y is on his lunch break, sees a man having a heart attack, and uses this CPR training to save him. It�s not just the Boro Park Y that benefits from this program but everyone around them. It ripples throughout the community,” Greenfield said.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)