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The Save A Life Foundation (SALF), proud member of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Citizen Corps is asking Mayors and Governors nationwide to help cure preventable deaths caused by unprepared bystanders.

During the months of July and August of 2005 the SALF is requesting over 2000 mayors nationwide and fifty Governors to proclaim September 2005 as “Save A Life Month”. 

The goal is to promote emergency preparedness during the month of September and to train citizens, starting with schoolchildren, grades K-12th basic life-supporting first aid techniques i.e. CPR and the Heimlich maneuver, and the use of an automatic external defibrillator (AED) to help assist during life-threatening emergencies before help arrives.

Members of the U.S. Conference of Mayors including Mayor Rita Mullins, Palatine, Illinois, Mayor Elizabeth Kautz, Burnsville, Minnesota, Mayor Manuel Diaz, Miami, Florida and Mayor Marty Blum, Santa Barbara, California have all signed onto this campaign and are writing to their colleagues for support.

“Save A Life Month” runs in conjunction with Homeland Security’s National Preparedness Month 2005, a nationwide effort to encourage American’s to take action and prepare for emergencies in their homes, businesses and schools.

The SALF is most popularly known for their “Bystander for Kids” program, an age appropriate course, instructed only by medical professionals, such as paramedics, firefighters and EMS to train schoolchildren how to respond to an emergency.  The program offered free to schools has recently been recognized by the U.S. Surgeon General, Richard Carmona as a valuable medical component to his “Year of the Healthy Child” initiative.

“We are producing more responsible young adults by providing them with knowledge, confidence, and a desire to come to the aid of others in traumatic situations before medical help arrives”, stated SALF’s President and Founder, Carol Spizzirri.

During the month of September, SALF will host an array of events that will bring together local, state and federal government organizations and the private sector to highlight the importance of public emergency preparedness and effective emergency response.