Police must train in CPR
STATE POLICE and NYPD officers will be required to have CPR training before joining the force under “Briana’s Law,” named for an 11-year-old Brooklyn girl who suffered a fatal asthma attack seven years ago Sunday.
Gov. Cuomo signed the law Sunday, mandating the lifesaving skills for police first responders. In addition to getting the training, officers will have to be recertified every two years.
The law is named in honor of Briana Ojeda of Boerum Hill, who died of an asthma attack after an officer was unable to perform CPR.
The requirements are long overdue, say Briana’s parents, who’ve trekked to Albany every year since they lost their daughter in 2010 to push for mandatory CPR.
Briana’s father, Michael Ojeda, 49, told the Daily News no one should go through what happened to them.
“When you lose a child, you never recuperate from it,” he said.
Ojeda and Briana’s mom, Carmen Torres, 41, spend time at their daughter’s Brooklyn grave every Sunday.
“Today was a little more special for us,” Torres said. “We were able to at least celebrate that with her, the fact we were giving back the gift of life in her name. She was a beautiful child who loved to helped people.”
Briana’s asthma attack started while she was at a Carroll Gardens playground.
While rushing Briana to a hospital, a cop stopped Torres’ car.
According to a lawsuit the parents filed, Officer Alfonso Mendez told Briana’s frantic mother he “didn’t do CPR” and he “didn’t know CPR.”
Briana died soon after arriving at Long Island College Hospital.
Briana’s parents sued the city, but Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Dawn Jimenez-Salta dismissed their suit last year.
“We are still standing outside in the cold,” Ojeda said. “Our life is broken.”
In the litigation, Mendez testified, “I didn’t feel safe putting my hands on someone without actually knowing what I’m doing.”
Briana’s Law takes effect in October.
The NYPD doesn’t currently require the completion and recertification of cardiopulmonary resuscitation training, according to Cuomo’s office.
The state police already teach CPR.
“This common-sense law will give law enforcement the training and the tools that will help save lives,” Cuomo said Sunday. “CPR is a critical skill, and by requiring law enforcement candidates and officers to become certified, we can create a safer New York for all.”
One of the bill’s sponsors, state Sen. Jesse Hamilton (D-Brooklyn), said, “This is a legacy truly worthy of Briana Ojeda’s memory.”
Another sponsor, Assemblyman Felix Ortiz (D-Brooklyn), said the law was a “victory in the name of Briana’s family, who has fought, lobbied and advocated every day since losing their daughter. My only hope is that the Ojeda family will finally achieve some peace, knowing that no other child will be lost in this way.”
Years after Briana’s death, police CPR training — or the lack of it — was back in the news with the November 2014 death of 28-year-old Akai Gurley, also in Brooklyn.
Officer Peter Liang squeezed off a shot in a pitch-black stairwell in the Pink Houses that ricocheted into Gurley’s heart and liver.
Liang, who was convicted and fired in Gurley’s death, didn’t perform CPR after he discovered the dying man. Liang said he panicked and his partner, Officer Shaun Landau, said he got a full two minutes of CPR training in the Police Academy. Landau also was fired.
A department CPR instructor was placed on modified duty and stripped of her gun and shield in relation to Gurley’s death. On Sunday, an NYPD spokesman said she is on active duty.