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On December 15th, the American Trauma Society's Pennsylvania Division (ATSPA), Mechanicsburg, PA, will be presented with an award for $25,000 by Save A Life Foundation's (SALF) National Director of State Development to establish a SALF Regional Office in Central Pennsylvania.  Acting Pennsylvania EMS Director, Joseph Schmider and ATS Executive Director, Harry Teter, will present matching awards in order to secure SALF PA's success.

This initiative is the first step toward fulfilling the late Dr. Peter Safar's dream of housing a SALF branch in his home state of Pennsylvania.  Since 1993, and until his death in 2003, Peter Safar M.D. (Father of CPR) served as the founding member of the Foundation's Medical Board with President/Founder Carol J. Spizzirri and Henry Heimlich M.D. (Heimlich maneuver), in an effort to train all citizens in Life Supporting First Aid (LSFA) skills.  In 1999, then Governor Tom Ridge, State Representative Tom Petrone, State EMS Director Peggy Trimble, and Steve Orebaugh M.D. UPMC and others began the process of bringing SALF's age appropriate programs to the school children of PA. Soon after 9-11, newly elected Governor Ed Rendell, took a personal interest in Dr. Safar's dream and brought in the PA League of Cities, American Trauma Society of PA and the Philadelphia School CEO Paul Vallas to accomplish this task. 

Julia Cox RN and Carol Forrester Staz RN will serve as SALF's ROD Facilitators will recruit local Emergency Medical Service (EMS) providers as SALF Instructors, who will then train Pennsylvania school children (K-12) how to help save a life.