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Chicago Public School, Josiah Pickard Elementary, 2301 W. 21st Street will receive the CERT-ified, Community Emergency Response Team, School Award presented by the Save A Life Foundation, at a school assembly, Wednesday, March 16th.  The school is being honored for training their entire school body, including over 700 schoolchildren, grades K-8th and 60 faculty members on how to respond to an emergency prior to paramedic arrival.

For two months Pickard Elementary School incorporated the SALF's Life Supporting First Aid (LSFA) training program, "Bystander Basics" into their curriculum in attempts to enable students and school staff members, including teachers, cafeteria workers and janitors to be active bystanders within their community during emergency situations, including choking, cardiac arrest and life-threatening accidents.

The age appropriate LSFA training course trained all 700 students and 62 staff members about scene safety, how to properly dial 9-1-1, bleed control, rescue breathing, early heart attack care, CPR and Heimlich maneuver. 

"This type of training is very important for the entire school community.  Students of all ages, even as young as five can learn these safety procedures in order to assist in family and school emergencies", said Michele Govea, Pickard School's Special Event Coordinator.

The training, instructed only by medical professionals, including firefighters and paramedics is offered free to all Chicago public schools and has recently been recognized by the U.S. Surgeon General, Richard Carmona as a potential medical component to the "Year of the Healthy Child" agenda, a plan set forward by the Surgeon General to improve a child's health needs, including illness and injury prevention.

SALF, member of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Citizen Corps is renowned for developing the most effective and efficient LSFA training programs as well as for training nearly a million schoolchildren, grades K-12, for free on how to respond to an emergency prior to medical arrival.

"By teaching every child in America basic life-supporting first aid skills, we can save lives", said Carmona.