Oh, New York, never change. In a very Brooklyn feel-good story a school teacher on her lunch break used her CPR skills to help save a woman suspected of overdosing on drugs—only to be thanked with the woman's middle finger. more ›

Members of the family who were trapped in a Brooklyn row house fire on Thanksgiving are in critical condition in NYC hospitals. According to the Post, 8-month-old Josiah Alexis, his mother Justine Alexis, uncle Jonathan Alexis and his aunt's husband George DeJesus are all at New York Presbyterian Cornell Weill Medical Center with ventilators; the baby's aunt, Jasmine Alexis (twin sister to Justine, wife of DeJesus) is at Jacobi Medical Center. This news comes as fire official described how the fire, started by someone smoking in bed, spread across the President Street home in Park Slope. more ›

An 11-year-old boy was "completely blue and unresponsive" when a nurse saw him by a Staten Island YMCA pool, so she told lifeguards, "I am a nurse, I know CPR," and was able to help revive him after two minutes. Pamela Glennon told the Advance, "His color came back immediately." more ›

After a 32-year-old lawyer died of an aneurysm before paying for his tab, Rick's Cabaret vowed to never let another customer wait for EMS workers to arrive before they received medical attention. So if you find your chest seizing up in the middle of a lap dance, the managers at Rick's are now certified in CPR and the use of defibrillators. You mean we won't be able to get out of paying for lapdances by faking heart attacks anymore? Guess it's back to using coupons to get into New York Dolls. more ›

A CBS News producer happened to be on a flight to Laguardia from Atlanta when an 86-year-old fell ill. Luckily, the plane was apparently chock full of doctors and she was saved by a pair of doctors heading to see the Thanksgiving Day Parade! Neurologist Tom Devlin (who was wearing his scrubs) checked out the lady, who apparently had a seizure, heart attack or stroke, during the Wednesday flight. He said she was “Without a pulse, not breathing, completely comatose in her chair... It was clear this was a potential life and death situation," and consulted with his cardiologist wife, Dr. Carol Gruver who then revived the woman. more ›

The American Heart Association has issued new CPR guidelines, recommending that when attempting life-saving efforts for adults and children, start with chest compressions—"push hard and fast"—before doing mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. As the AP reports, "The change ditches the old “ABC” approach - “A” for airway, “B” for breathing, “C” for compressions. That called for rescuers to give two breaths first, then alternate with 30 presses. Under the revised guidelines, rescuers using traditional cardiopulmonary resuscitation should start chest compressions immediately - 30 chest presses, then two breaths." more ›

The parents of 11-year-old Briana Ojeda, who died of an asthma attack, blame NYPD officer Alfonso Mendez for refusing to perform CPR on her and held a rally yesterday to demand a criminal investigation into Mendez's actions. They also want the state to make a new law making it a crime for an officer to refuse to give emergency medical assistance. Mendez has already been suspended for failing to take proper police action, but the some officials agree that the punishment should be greater. State Assemblyman Felix Ortiz told NY1, "If every police officer, every police officer was recertificate in the CPR, then I will guarantee you that we would not be standing here at this moment." more ›

Last week, an 11-year-old girl died of an asthma attack, and her mother, Carmen Ojeda, blamed a police officer for keeping her from getting to the hospital in time. She also says the officer, Alfonso Mendez, "smirked" at her and refused to perform CPR on her dying daughter, claiming he didn't know how. Mendez has been suspended from the 84th precinct and could face departmental charges for "failing to take proper police action," but the Ojedas say that isn't enough. On top of wanting to press criminal charges, they want to make it a crime for a cop to refuse to help in a health emergency. more ›

Yesterday, the funeral for 11-year-old Briana Ojeda was held in Park Slope, Brooklyn, and a horse-drawn carriage—escorted by police—brought the child's body to the St. Xavier Church. Ojeda died last after suffering an asthma attack at a playground, and her parents have claimed that a police officer not only blocked her mother from driving her to the hospital but also claimed he didn't know CPR (cops are trained in CPR at the police academy) and acted rudely. Ojeda's aunt told NY1, "He could have been a hero, but he chose to be a coward." more ›

Carmen Ojeda, who claims a police officer blocked her from going to the hospital when her daughter was suffering from an asthma attack in her back seat, wants the officer responsible to come forward and apologize for his actions. "Show your face and say you're sorry!" she told the Daily News. "I just want you to be a man. Let her rest in peace!" more ›

The mother of an 11-year-old girl who died of an asthma attack on Friday says a man, whom she believes to be a cop, kept her from getting her daughter to a hospital. Carmen Ojeda's daughter, Briana, began suffering an asthma attack in a playground in Carroll Gardens on Friday afternoon. Ojeda, not wanting to wait for an ambulance, took off with Briana in her car, and turned down a side street to avoid traffic. The street ended up being one-way, and she either crashed into or was blocked by other cars. That's when she waved down a "marked car" and a "uniformed man" got out. more ›

A 14-month-old boy was pulled from his family's Staten Island pool in cardiac arrest yesterday afternoon. WABC 7 reports that little Vincent Fougere " found by his parents floating in the pool wearing only his diaper." Luckily, the local firehouse was nearby and a neighbor, who heard the screaming parents, ran over there for help. more ›

Some said Mayor Bloomberg was a miracle worker when he saved himself from a requisite departure and found a way to rewrite the city's term limits laws with a simple wave of the hand. But today the mayor stepped in and took part in some real life heroics, nearly having to perform CPR on a Lehman College student who passed out behind him during a press conference. City Room says that when Emmanuel Vega fainted at a press conference on CUNY's growing enrollment, Bloomberg "searched for a pulse in his neck, helped unbutton his shirt and tried to get the student...to start talking." Once Vega regained consciousness, Bloomberg instructed the young man to stay down until police arrived. The mayor said, “He seems okay. He said he hadn’t eaten any breakfast, so he just needed some food or water or it’s hot in here." The superhero bug must be going around City Hall these days—two weeks ago Deputy Mayor Ed Skyler broke up a mugging in midtown. more ›

Ilir Ademi is suing a New York Sports Club in Queens for its staff allegedly failing to administer CPR or make use of their defibrillator when his wife suffered a heart arrhythmia and died there last spring. His 25-year-old bride Dari Gracova was already brain dead by the time EMTs arrived at the the gym fifteen minutes after she first collapsed. Ademi claims that as his wife lay convulsing on the floor, club employees "came and moved everyone away from her" and then kept them away, refusing to use the automated external defibrillators that are required by law. NYSC has denied responsibility for the death after being hit with the $6 million suit Friday. more ›