17th Annual FDNY EMS Second Chance Brunch to Take Place

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Fire Commissioner Salvatore J. Cassano will preside at the 17th annual Second Chance Brunch at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, May 17 at the FDNY Fire Academy on Randall's Island. This special event will reunite 10 people who have survived cardiac arrest and other life-threatening incidents with the Emergency Medical Technicians, Paramedics, Firefighters and others who helped save their lives.

This year, four of the survivors benefited from Hypothermia therapy. In August, Paramedics began administering cold intravenous fluids to cardiac arrest patients before they get to the hospital in an effort to halt muscle and tissue damage as well as preserve neurological function. Since then, 4,486 patients have received hypothermia therapy, allowing EMS crews to restore a pulse in one in three resuscitations, compared to one in four a year earlier.

The 10 survivors include an 18-year-old Bronx woman who suffered cardiac arrest while headed to school for final exams, a 30-year-old who collapsed while having dinner with her boyfriend in Brooklyn and a Staten Island man who was initially helped by three off-duty FDNY members while exercising at a local gym.

Research has shown that early defibrillation coupled with cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) within the first few minutes after sudden cardiac arrest can greatly increase a victim's chance of survival.



Author:Emily Rahimi - PIO - FDNY