Return to the Press Release Index

The Guardian Angel Ambulance Service and emergency medical experts have extended an invitation to the Save A Life Foundation (SALF), to help bring Life Supporting First Aid (LSFA) training to the school children of Pittsburgh and surrounding communities.

On August 2nd, educators and emergency medical experts will meet with SALF, a Illinois based organization, to begin implementing LSFA skills by local EMS providers to school children as is currently being done in Illinois for free.  Since 1995 nearly 500,000, K-12th graders have received SALF's "Save A Life For Kids' or "Bystander Basics" programs and have been responsible for countless saves to fellow classmates and family members.  The creation of these programs was encouraged and medically reviewed by Pittsburgh's own Peter Safar, M.D., Safar Research Center, University of Pittsburgh, (Father of CPR) who has sat on SALF's Medical Advisory Board since 1994.  SALF has been awarded Congressional funding to take its success nationwide. Pittsburgh has been chosen to initiate that nationwide movement.

Save A Life Foundation was founded shortly after the tragic death of Christina Jean Spizzirri on Labor Day, 1992, as the result of an accident where those first responders were not trained in life saving skills. Thus Christina bled to death prior to EMS arrival.  Christina's mom, Carol, soon discovered the lack of emergency training by all public servants and launched a statewide campaign which lead to the passage of a Illinois mandate requiring all new police officers and firefighters to be trained before graduating from their academy.  She worked feverously with U.S. Senator Richard Durbin (IL) for the passage of appropriates for this training nationwide.  Both bills were signed within two weeks of each other.