Rita Mullins endorses and promotes Carol Spizzirri, SALF

See page 20 article by Rita Mullins about the Save A Life Foundation: http://www.iml.org/cnt/files/review_pdf/Review%2002-2001.pdf


Save A Life Foundation

By RITA MULLINS, Mayor of Palatine, and IRV BOCK, Mayor of Hanover Park

As mayors and village presidents, we have the obligation to
ensure the health, safety and well-being of our residents - including
our young people. That is why we have become involved in
an organization we feel helps fulfill that obligation.
The Save A Life Foundation (SALF) came into existence
through the efforts of Carol Spizzirri, founder, mother and nurse
who, on Labor Day 1992, lost her child, Christina, to a fatal hit and-
run car accident. Christina’s life might have been saved had
the first persons who arrived on the scene given prompt first aid
until the professionals arrived. Since that time, Carol has channeled
her grief by establishing the Save A Life Foundation, devoting
herself and requesting others to get involved in the process of
educating people in these most basic skills. SALF is a not-forprofit
organization dedicated to the promotion and education of
life supporting first aid.

Through Carol’s efforts, the Foundation was able to have a
law passed in Illinois mandating first aid and CPR training for all
new police and firefighters. With the assistance of Senator
Richard Durbin (D-IL), a federal appropriation was sponsored and
passed by President Clinton, providing funds for First Aid and
CPR training for all police and emergency personnel nationwide.
SALF has grown to include a team of dedicated volunteers
who promote its life-saving mission. Also, the Foundation is very
fortunate to have an internationally-recognized panel of experts
serving on its Medical Advisory Board, such as Dr. Henry
Heimlich, father of the Heimlich maneuver and head of the
Heimlich Institute, Dr. Peter Safar, developer of Cardio
Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and the head of the Safar
Research Center in Pittsburgh, and Dr. Stanley Zydlo, father of
Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and SALF’s Medical
Director.

Life is full of surprises. Some of them are pleasant and others
are not. When we suddenly find ourselves face to face with a
crisis, it is important to know what to do - either fix the problem,
or keep it from getting worse. In our society, it seems all too often
people turn away when they see someone in trouble, or someone
suddenly becoming ill or injured. Many of us are simply afraid to
help because of fear being sued, contracting a disease or making
the situation worse because of a lack of knowledge.

The intent of the Save A Life Foundation program is to deliver
the most important lifesaving information in a simple, concise
format designed to fit into our busy lives. The program will teach
those taking the course just what they need to know.
SALF has focused on the need of creating a critical mass of
trained children in Life Supporting First Aid skills. Working with
EMS/Fire Departments and schools, SALF has trained more than
125,000 children in the Chicago school district and became part of
Governor George Ryan’s budget - appropriating funds to teach all
school children throughout the state of Illinois in first aid and
CPR.

SALF has experienced tremendous growth in the last two
years. From teaching a simple basic first aid program to children,
SALF’s curriculum now consists of four comprehensive training
programs geared to people of all ages. The program consists of
Save A Life for Kids, Bystander Basics, Bystander Advanced
(OSHA, Daycare Providers) and Bystander Basics Automatic
External Defibrillation.

Our audience has grown from school children to businesses of
all sizes. SALF has trained employees from companies such as
Lead Core and U.S. Steel and has been brought in to teach the
Chicago Police Department. SALF will also be working with the
Federal Aviation Administration in training employees and developing
standards for the aviation industry.

SALF’s training programs are as follows:

Save A Life for Kids is a one-hour program that teaches elementary
school children from kindergarten through eight grade.
Children learn skills such as scene safety, contacting Emergency
Medical Services, bleed control, opening an airway, early heart
attack care, Heimlich maneuver and rescue breathing.

Bystander Basic is a two-hour program geared for young
adults age 13 and older, which teaches all the above as well as
CPR.

Bystander Basics Advanced is a three-hour program that
meets OSHA standards, expands upon these skills by also teaching
C-Spine control, shock management, critical burn management,
initial wound care, and how to recognize various emergencies
and prioritize multiple casualty situations.
Bystander Basic A.E.D. is a one-hour program intended for
adults 18 and over that includes training in sudden death, the function
of the heart and circulatory system and how and when to use
an automatic external defibrillator.

The Save A Life Foundation has several current programs. These are:

1. Life Saving Skills for School Bus Drivers and School
Administrators. Through a joint effort with the Illinois State
Board of Education and the Secretary of State, SALF has proceeded
with the plans for a program to train the 23,000 Illinois school
bus drivers with basic hands-on life supporting first aid, including
CPR.

2. Blue Angels Program. A partnership with the Illinois
Criminal Justice Information Authority, Chicago Police
Department, Office of the Superintendent of the Chicago Police,
and the Police Academy to train police officers with EMS credentials
to become in-house instructors for fellow officers in their
police departments. These officers will also outreach their communities
by providing training in life saving skills to local schools.

3. Creation of Branch Offices. With an eye on the future,
SALF negotiated a partnership and established a regional training
site at Saint John’s Hospital in Springfield. This was the first step
in marketing our educational training into communities inadequately
served by emergency medical services. Recently, at the
National Conference of State Legislatures in Chicago, several
states, most notably Connecticut, Texas and North Carolina,
approached SALF about establishing branch offices in their states.
What started as a tragedy for one woman has become a
healthy, thriving and important organization making a difference
and facing the challenge of making our society a better place for
all.

Most often, the people that you will be called upon to help are
those we spend the most time with, our family, neighbors, and
friends. This program will prepare your residents to recognize
emergencies and teach them the right way to deal with emergencies.
As mayors, we have an opportunity to assist in getting the
word out to all our residents about the importance of these programs.
The Save A Life Foundation will train the trainers for you.
Men and women in your Police, Fire and Public Works departments
start the core groups which consist of school children,
social service clubs, church groups, etc.
Let’s work together to support the philosophy of the Save A
Life Foundation.

For further information, please contact Carol Spizzirri of the
Save A Life Foundation at 847-928-9683 or fax inquiries to 847-
928-9684.