Ronald McDonald Visits Burnside, DePriest Elementary

SALF, October 6, 2004

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By Josh Roberts

Chicago, IL - October 6, 2004 - Both Burnside and DePriest Elementary Schools were graced with the presence of McDonald's icon and long-time public figurehead, Ronald McDonald, during in-school, life supporting first aid (LSFA) training sessions.  The training sessions were led by Veronica Johnson (Burnside) and Donnie Reid (DePriest), long-time Save A Life Foundation (SALF) instructors and EMS professionals in the community.

In addition to Ronald's public appearance, SALF has also received a tremendous amount of support from Illinois State Senators Donne Trotter and Kimberly Lightford and State Representative Constance Howard, as well as many other Illinois state legislators. Each of the legislators has been instrumental in the progression of SALF, persistently advocating to keep them in the state budget since 1997. By doing so, SALF has been able to continuously provide life saving skills to schoolchildren free of charge.

Burnside Elementary was the first on a long list of local elementary schools who are co-sponsored by Ronald McDonald House Charities, both globally and at the regional level (Chicago and Indiana branches), to be educated in LSFA techniques. The training program was presented in a one-hour session to 4th grade classes, and covered opening an airway, rescue breathing and the Heimlich maneuver for infants, children and adults, as well as a recap of how to recognize an emergency, notify an EMS professional, scene safety (blood borne pathogens, bio-hazard precautions, etc.) and some basic first aid concepts. In addition, there were hands-on activities, which allowed the children to demonstrate the proper administration of the Heimlich maneuver on mannequins and how to properly care for someone experiencing rapid blood loss.