posted: March 26, 2004.

NEW YORK, N.Y. March 26, 2004 - Four off-duty nurses and two union staff members who revived a collapsed New York City teacher after he suffered a cardiac arrest at last year's convention were honored today at the New York State United Teachers' 32nd annual Representative Assembly for their heroism.

Just when NYSUT's health care members Anne Goldman, Hope Willocks, Nancy Barth Miller and Rosemary Scheriff all registered nurses realized the teacher had flat-lined, a quick-thinking NYSUT staffer, Aaron Bifaro, ran for the union's portable defibrillator while his colleague, Tom Slavin, worked on crowd control.

The nurses, who were delegates to the 2003 convention, were able to provide emergency care. Fortunately, NYSUT had brought its new Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) to the Washington, D.C. assembly. Rachel Moyer, a NYSUT member who lost her son to a cardiac arrest during an athletic event at a school with no emergency equipment, had presented the union with its own AED in gratitude for NYSUT's role in getting state legislation passed. The legislation mandates that defibrillators be present in all public schools and at all school events.

By the time Bifaro raced back with the AED, teacher retiree Herb Yules appeared to be clinically dead, Goldman said. The nurses used the defibrillator to shock Yules' heart, reviving him. "If Aaron hadn't come back with the defibrillator, he had no shot. Aaron appeared like an angel," Goldman added.

When Moyer learned that the gift had helped save a life, she was ecstatic. "I am once again so proud of my union," she said. To honor the NYSUT nurses and staffers, Moyer presented each of them with an AED which they, in turn, will donate to a school of their choice.

NYSUT, the largest union in New York State, represents more than 500,000 classroom teachers and other school employees and retirees; academic and professional faculty at the state's community colleges, State University of New York and City University of New York; and other education and health professionals. NYSUT is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO.