The Port Authority Police Department, under the direction of the late Capt. Kathy Mazza, began a program in 1997 to equip all of its facilities with life-saving portable heart defibrillators and to train officers to use them.

With the assistance of the Regional Medical Services Council of New York City, Capt. Mazza - who was killed in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks while rescuing people from the World Trade Center - and other Port Authority officers received the necessary training to teach their colleagues how to use a defibrillator.

The program was launched in 1997 at John F. Kennedy International Airport with two defibrillators placed on an airport-based ambulance. Since that time, 133 defibrillators have been placed in all Port Authority facilities and more than 1,100 police officers have been trained in how to use them. To date, 30 lives have been saved by Port Authority Police using the portable heart defibrillators.