By Larry Tate
January 31, 2005

Four speakers highlighted the work of the Save A Life Foundation (SALF), a national non-profit organization based in Illinois, at the Wednesday, June 19, Plenary Session. The organization's mission is to use local EMS and Fire Professionals as instructors in America's classrooms to teach students how to help in an emergency before the arrival of emergency personnel. Founded in 1993, SALF has equipped nearly one million children with CPR, Heimlich Maneuver, and first aid skills. The organization provides training to public schools for free with help from state/federal funding and donors.

Palatine Mayor Rita Mullins of gave an overview of SALF's work and introduced a video presentation. Mayor Mullins has had a strong connection to SALF, and stressed the importance of bystanders at an emergency scene. She credited SALF with a major part in the passage of an Illinois law requiring that all police have "basic lifesaving training."

Miami Mayor Manuel Diaz related the work of SALF to his "mentoring initiative," which has brought firefighters, nurses, doctors, and EMTs to grades K-12 in city schools. He said that 11,000 students have been trained to date.

Carol Spizziri, head of SALF, reaffirmed the organization's mission and thanked mayors for their enthusiastic support of life'saving efforts.

Dr. Henry Heimlich, M.D., spoke of the many uses of the Heimlich Maneuver, the life'saving technique he developed. Aside from its widely known application in incidents of choking (as on a piece of meat), he said the technique can also be used for victims of asthma attacks and near-drowning incidents. At the Heimlich Institute, one of many initiatives is placing posters in restaurants demonstrating the technique so all restaurant employees and patrons can see it in an emergency.