Description
The Cambridge Fire Department and Avive Solutions, Inc. are partnering to bring a free CPR and AED (automated external defibrillator) training event to the Smith Campus Center in Harvard Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts on Thursday, September 17, 2026, aiming to train members of the general public on lifesaving skills.
Members of the public, students, faculty, and staff are invited to stop by and learn lifesaving skills that can make a difference during a cardiac emergency. Cardiac arrest can happen anywhere. Knowing CPR and how to use an AED can help save a life. Come by, get hands-on experience, and learn skills that could help you save a family member, friend, coworker, or neighbor.
The free event is a cornerstone of a broader, ongoing partnership between Cambridge Fire and Avive to build a 4 Minute Community - a program where trained volunteers can be dispatched with their Avive Connect AED to a scene within the critical first four minutes of a cardiac emergency, closing the gap for when professional responders arrive.
The training will take place at the Smith Campus Center in Harvard Square, Cambridge in coordination with CrimsonEMS and ProEMS- extending the reach of Cambridge's community-wide preparedness efforts to one of the city's largest populations: students, visitors, faculty, and staff.
Event Details
What:
Community CPR/AED Training Day
Where:
Smith Campus Center, 1350 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA
When:
September 17, 2026, starting at 10:00 a.m.
Who:
general public, students, faculty, and staff
Training Equipment:
25 Avive Connect AEDs and CPR manikins, provided by Avive Solutions
Support:
Cambridge Fire Department, CrimsonEMS, ProEMS
Why 4 Minutes Matters
The Avive 4 Minute Community Program is a groundbreaking initiative that transforms communities into proactive cardiac emergency response networks. By using historical sudden cardiac arrest data to strategically place Avive Connect AEDs with trained citizen volunteers - known as Cardiac Arrest Rapid Engagement (CARE) team members - the program creates a seamless bridge between bystander intervention and professional emergency response. The program has produced multiple lifesaving saves across the country and stands as a model for what's possible when a community decides that saving a life is everyone's responsibility.
A Community-Wide Strategy
Cambridge Fire Department's push to become a 4 Minute Community centers on training as many residents as possible, across workplaces, neighborhoods, schools, and now in partnership with Avive. With 50 Avive AEDs already deployed by Cambridge Fire and 326 more installed by MIT across its campus, nearly 380 connected devices are already in place citywide - putting these lifesaving tools within quick reach of students, faculty, staff, visitors, and the community's first responders alike.
Avive Solutions is supplying 25 Avive AEDs and CPR manikins that make hands-on, simultaneous instruction possible for large groups of participants. The equipment lets participants practice recognizing cardiac arrest, beginning compressions, and operating an AED in a simulated emergency, rather than learning the steps only in theory.
Representatives from Cambridge Fire, Local agencies CrimsonEMS and ProEMS will be on site throughout the event to support instruction and answer questions, reinforcing the coordination between campus responders and the city's fire and rescue services that a true 4 Minute Community depends on.