Yonkers Staff Get Emergency Response Training
New York Medical College trained more than 300 Yonkers public school employees in CPR, overdose response, and bleeding control this year.
Updated on Nov. 2, 2026 in Safety
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New York Medical College trained more than 300 Yonkers public school employees, including 115 district administrators, 120 teaching assistants, and 74 nursing staff members, in emergency response skills. The expansion followed an earlier program that reached nearly 4,000 educators and employees at all 29 Yonkers schools during the 2023-24 school year.
Why it matters
The training gives staff across the district practical skills to respond to cardiac arrest, choking, bleeding, allergic reactions, and opioid overdoses before emergency medical services arrive. The school district requested the expansion after the earlier program.
The expansion trained 115 administrators, 120 teaching assistants, and 74 nursing staff, with 10 Executive Cabinet members among the administrators. The district serves roughly 27,000 students across its public schools.
The players
New York Medical College
A private medical school in Valhalla, New York, whose Center for Disaster Medicine provided the instruction for the Yonkers training.
New York State Department of Education
The state agency that oversees public education in New York and provided funding that helped make the program and its expansion possible.
The details
Administrator training in August was Basic Life Support instruction held at the Barack Obama School for Social Justice, covering CPR, choking emergencies, and opioid overdose response. Nursing staff completed BLS, Stop the Bleed, Narcan, and Epi-Pen training at the Yonkers Riverside Public Library, and other staff completed Stop the Bleed and Epi-Pen training.
Timeline
2023-24 school year: Earlier program reaches nearly 4,000 Yonkers educators and employees.
August 2026: 115 district administrators complete Basic Life Support training.
Program Context
The Center for Disaster Medicine at New York Medical College has run the Yonkers training in phases, moving from an initial rollout across all 29 schools to a second round aimed at administrators, teaching assistants, and nurses. The expansion shows the district building a larger pool of staff trained to act during medical emergencies in schools.
Yonkers school staff who completed the training now hold skills in CPR, choking response, bleeding control, and overdose reversal with Narcan. Parents can expect trained employees on site during school hours when a medical emergency occurs.
The takeaway
Training many staff members rather than a few specialists increases the chance that someone nearby can act quickly during a school medical emergency. Schools and families can ask their districts which staff hold current CPR and overdose response certifications.
Further reading
Explore more Safety stories covering emergency preparedness and response training.
Source note: This article includes information reported by New City Daily Voice.
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