FDNY Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore invites Department to CPR Day at its headquarters in Brooklyn

March 30, 2026

To help commemorate the 30th anniversary of the merger between New York City EMS and the FDNY, the Department held a CPR Day on Monday, March 30, 2026, inside the Commissioner Robert O. Lowery Auditorium at FDNY headquarters in Brooklyn.

Staff chiefs, commissioners and civilian personnel took part in the training sessions, learning hands-only CPR and how to respond to sudden cardiac arrest.

"Every second counts in a cardiac emergency, and hands-only CPR empowers anyone to step in and potentially save a life. At the FDNY, we are strengthening a culture of readiness that extends far beyond our firehouses and EMS stations and into every community we serve," FDNY Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore said.

The training sessions were led by American Heart Association-accredited instructors from the FDNY Mobile CPR Training Unit.

Early CPR and the use of an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) have been shown to dramatically increase the chance of survival in victims who experience sudden cardiac arrest. The first few minutes after a person goes into cardiac arrest are the most critical. Bystanders who witness or encounter a person in cardiac arrest are the ones who can maintain blood flow to the vital organs by performing chest compressions and improving a person's chance of survival.

The FDNY Mobile CPR Training Unit offers compressions-only CPR training throughout the city and has trained more than 200,000 New Yorkers to perform bystander CPR, including more than 80,000 high school students.

For more information, visit FDNYSmart.org.