NYMC’s Center for Disaster Medicine Brings Life-Saving Skills to School Administrators, Teaching Assistants, and Nursing Staff
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.
“The Yonkers School District is again showing leadership in preparedness for schools by ensuring that all school professionals are trained to provide lifesaving care until help arrives from EMS for children having a medical emergency,” said David S. Markenson, M.D., M.B.A., Dr.P.H. ’25, medical director and director of the CDM.
“With 27,000 students here in the Yonkers public school system, we need to be prepared for any disaster at all times,” said Ammir Rabadi, M.D., chief physician for the Yonkers Public Schools and assistant professor of family and community medicine at NYMC.
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.
“The Hudson Valley is incredibly fortunate to be home to New York Medical College and its Center for Disaster Medicine, and I’m proud to have supported their mission over the years. I’ve had the opportunity to see their work firsthand, from participating in a mass casualty triage course with staff at St. Johns Riverside Hospital in Yonkers, to a Prehospital Trauma Life Support course for emergency personnel. Each visit, I’ve seen just how much knowledge, expertise and hands-on training this institution brings to our community. That’s why, over the last three years, I’ve worked with my colleagues to secure more than $750,000 in state funding for this important work, including $250,000 in last year’s budget for the Center of Excellence in Disaster Medicine to provide school trainings. I’m happy to see this expertise is now expanding directly into Yonkers Public Schools, the largest public school system in the county. Hopefully, no school personnel will ever need to use this training, but it’s reassuring to know this expertise is available here in our region,” said New York Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins.
“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.
Founded in 2005, the CDM has served as the first civilian resource of its kind in the nation, leading research, training and comprehensive educational programs to prepare vulnerable populations for disasters, such as children, the elderly and the disabled. The focus on schools reflects the growing need for emergency preparedness as an essential part of everyday school operations. The success of the original Yonkers program and expansion into additional New York school districts has been made possible by funding from the New York State Department of Education (NYSED) and supported by Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Senator Shelley Mayer.
About New York Medical College
Founded in 1860, New York Medical College is one of the oldest and largest health sciences colleges in the country with nearly 1,500 students and 330 residents and clinical fellows, more than 2,600 faculty members and 23,200 living alumni. The College, which joined Touro University in 2011, is located in Westchester County, New York, and offers degrees from the School of Medicine, the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, the School of Health Sciences and Practice, a School of Dental Medicine and a School of Nursing. NYMC provides a wide variety of clinical training opportunities for students, residents and practitioners. For more information, visit www.nymc.edu.