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Friday, February 18, 2005, at the EMS State of the Science meeting, U.S. Surgeon General, Richard H. Carmona advised all Emergency Medical Service professionals, to partner with youth organizations, such as the Save A Life Foundation to prepare schoolchildren, nationwide for emergencies.

He stated, “Bystanders are the first to encounter an emergency, and quite often if a child is hurt the bystander is another child. So we must give the tools to help his friend”.

A week prior to the Address, Surgeon General, Carmona, requested a meeting with SALF President and CEO, Carol Spizzirri, in D.C., to include SALF’s age-appropriate LSFA teachings, as a medical component to “The Year of the Healthy Child” agenda, set forward by the Surgeon General to improve a child’s health needs, including illness and injury prevention and response

SALF, member of the Department of U.S. Homeland Security’s Citizen Corps, is renowned for developing the most effective and efficient LSFA training programs, for utilizing only Emergency Medical Service (EMS) professionals, including firefighters and paramedics as instructors and for training nearly a million schoolchildren, grades K-12, at no cost in skills that prove to save a life.

“We know that kids even as young as 5 can learn to recognize an emergency, look both ways to cross a street, and call for help. By teaching every child in America basic life-supporting first aid skills, we can save lives”, said Carmona.