PLCM League Link, On the Hill

PLCM, April 29, 2004

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Save A Life Foundation (SALF) works closely with mayors and community leaders to utilize their EMS first responders to train local children (k-12) in life supporting first aid, CPR, and the Heimlich maneuver. These programs are age appropriate, offered free to the kids, and give them the skills to maintain life until the professionals arrive.

Pennsylvania has long been a pioneer in this kind of education because of Dr. Peter Safar of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Dr. Safar is the father of modern CPR, Intensive Care Units (ICU), the ambulance, and the Flight for Life helicopter. Dr. Safar served on the SALF medical board until he passed away in 2003. In a letter last March to Governor Ed Rendell, Dr. Safar wrote "I believe that bringing SALF to Pennsylvania to work in cooperation with our present Emergency Medical Services would benefit ALL the citizens of our state."

Knowing that mayors are on the front lines when it comes to "emergency preparedness," Governor Rendell has been a supporter of SALF programs and the empowering education they provide. "It gives: me great pleasure to join with the Save A Life Foundation to raise awareness of the importance of first aid and life supporting skills, and to encourage the citizens of Pennsylvania to become trained and knowledgeable in these practices," wrote Governor Rendell.

SALF also received a unanimous resolution of support by the PA House of Representatives in 2002 sponsored by Representative Petrone.

Carol J. Spizzirri founded SALF in 1993 after the death of her daughter Christina. Christina was struck by a hit and run motorist on Labor Day, 1992. Bystanders and law enforcement officers first at the scene were not trained to render first aid before EMS arrived. Carol soon discovered that professionals from public entities such as dispatchers, firefighters, law enforcement, school teachers, and coaches were not required to have training in basic first aid skills. To prevent future tragedies fostered legislation mandating police and fire personnel to be trained in life supporting first aid skills (LSFA) before graduating from the academies. Out of this grew SALF's current basic "Bystander " LSFA training programs with special focus on children.

The mission of the Emergency Medical I Services systems in Pennsylvania includes public education and information. The EMS office, based in the Department of Health, has implemented programs such as Bystander Care, Emergency Response Assessment, staff training for pediatric day care centers, Risk Watch, Community AED programs, and Citizen Emergency Response Team (CERT) training. Integrating SALF initiatives with the PA EMS system goals is a logical step and provides synergy for both.
At present Pennsylvania is moving forward with its initiatives. The Emergency Medical Services Office and Emergency Medical Services Institute, one of the regional EMS councils, have been working with SALE to establish its presence in Pennsylvania. 5ALF has chosen Ben Abo from the Centers for Emergency Medicine to be PA Coordinator, Dr. Steve Orebaugh from UPMC as FA Chairman and Melinda Fiodor from the Critical Care Division of Children's Hospital, Pittsburgh. Efforts are underway to place SALF offices at the Center for Emergency Medicine.

"Save A Life Foundation will be a very valuable asset to Pennsylvania in training school children and others hover to respond to emergencies in those critical minutes before EMS arrives," according to Peg Trimble, Director of the EMS Office at the Department of Health.

Currently there are two pilot programs on the agenda in the Pittsburgh area, one for spring and one for fall.