August 20.

2012

Brent D. Stratton
Chief Deputy Attorney General
Office of the Illinois Attorney General
100 W. Randolph Street, 12th Floor
Chicago, Illinois 60601

Mr. Stratton:

Re: your agency's ongoing investigation of the Save-A-Life Foundation (SALF), the attached August 17, 2012
article I reported on my blog1 will be of interest.

To summarize, according to a number of records dating from year 2000 – including the attached February 9,
2004 official statement I received from SALF founder/president Carol Spizzirri – SALF's first aid training
program taught and recommended that near-drowning victims should be revived by the use of the Heimlich
maneuver (a/k/a abdominal thrusts).

Years earlier, preeminent medical and water safety organizations including the American Red Cross (2000); the
United States Lifesaving Association (1996); the American Heart Association (2000); the Institute of Medicine
(1995); the International Life Saving Federation (1998) determined that the treatment was ineffective and
potentially lethal since it wastes time and may cause vomiting leading to aspiration. (The listed years following
the names of the organizations are links that lead to reports and statements issued by those organizations.)

According to a June 3, 2011 article in the Washington Post:

Dr. James Orlowski said he has documented nearly 40 cases where rescuers performing the Heimlich
maneuver have caused complications for the victim. Orlowski is chief of pediatrics and pediatric
intensive care at University Community Hospital in Tampa.

According to an October 11, 2009 Chicago Tribune article by reporter Lisa Black:

(Spizzirri) estimates 2 million children took the classes, many of them from the Chicago Public Schools.

If that figure is accurate, the Save-A-Life Foundation – funded by a variety of Illinois agencies, including
$25,000 from the Attorney General – trained millions of students to perform an unproven, unapproved,
thoroughly-discredited treatment that could result in serious injuries or death.

Would you please forward this letter to the staff member who's in charge of your agency's investigation of SALF?
I'd appreciate it if you'd courtesy-copy me.

Thank you for your continued attention regarding these matters. If you require more information, please don't
hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

Peter M. Heimlich
3630 River Hollow Run
Duluth, GA 30096

ph: (208)474-7283
website: Medfraud
blog: The Sidebar

cc: IL Senator Tim Bivins (45th District)

Lisa Black, Chicago Tribune

1 CDC, National Guard, Illinois agencies awarded millions of tax dollars to Chicago nonprofit that taught unapproved,
thoroughly-discredited, potentially-lethal medical treatment by Peter M. Heimlich, The Sidebar, August 17, 2012
 the-sidebar.com http://w w w .the-sidebar.com/2012/08/cdc-national-guard-illinois-agencies.html

CDC, National Guard, Illinois agencies awarded millions of tax dollars

to Chicago nonprofit that taught unapproved, thoroughly-discredited,
potentially-lethal medical treatment
Video clip from SALF's 1/19/05 presentation to US Conference of Mayors. Features kissy intros by SALF
executives Rita Mullins (former mayor of Palatine, IL) and Carol Spizzirri. SALF is now reportedly under
investigation by the IL Attorney General. According to a January letter from IL State Senator Tim Bivins,
Spizzirri celebrated Xmas 2011 at Mullins's home in Palatine.

From Save-A-Life Foundation in limbo, an October 11, 2009 Chicago Tribune article by staff reporter Lisa Black:

(Carol) Spizzirri launched a nonprofit organization dedicated to teaching children emergency response
techniques, raising at least $8.6 million in federal and state grants for her Save-A-Life
Foundation...(Spizzirri) estimates 2 million children took the classes, many of them from the Chicago
Public Schools.

If that's accurate - according to a number of records, including an official statement I received from Carol Spizzirri - a
generation of Chicago students were taught to perform the Heimlich maneuver on drowning victims, an unapproved
treatment that preeminent medical and water safety organizations had already determined was ineffective and potentially
lethal since it wastes time and may cause vomiting leading to aspiration.

The millions of public dollars that funded SALF came from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the
National Guard, and numerous Illinois state agencies.

The following is from last year's Washington Post. In parentheses, I've added dates with links to the supporting
documents.

(The Heimlich maneuver has) been utterly discredited as a way of rescuing a person who is drowning, and
can actually do serious harm to someone who has just been pulled from the water, numerous experts say.

...The list of experts who reject the Heimlich maneuver (to revive drowning victims) is lengthy: The
American Red Cross (2000); the United States Lifesaving Association (1996); the American Heart
Association (2000); the Institute of Medicine (1995); the International Life Saving Federation (1998).

...Dr. James Orlowsk i said he has documented nearly 40 cases where rescuers performing the Heimlich
maneuver have caused complications for the victim. Orlowsk i is chief of pediatrics and pediatric intensive
care at University Community Hospital in Tampa.

Via a Cleveland Scene cover story by reporter Thomas

Francis that references the IOM's 1995 benchmark
report rejecting the use of the Heimlich maneuver to
revive drowning victims:

"The Institute of Medicine is the crown jewel of medical intelligentsia in the United States," says (drowning
expert and retired Coast Guard Admiral Alan) Steinman. "They look ed at this issue and said, 'Bad idea.'"
Five years later, SALF's medical director
ignored the IOM report and the other
organizations.

From Water Rescue Sequence: The

Controversial Role of the Heimlich
Maneuver (in drowning rescue) the year
2000 article by Pamela Mills-Senn which
was the Rosetta Stone for much of my
later research:

Form er SALF m edical director Stanley Zydlo MD at a 2009 book signing (source)

Since there are no published studies supporting the use of the Heimlich maneuver for drowning rescue, it's unclear what
"documented literature" Dr. Zydlo researched.

His time might have been better spent researching SALF's founder/president.
From Where Did the Save-A-Life Money Go? by Don Bauder in the November 17, 2010 San Diego Reader:

(Carol) Spizzirri was a darling of politicians and bureaucrats, although it was a matter of record that she
had been convicted twice for shoplifting. Save-A-Life began rak ing in money from government grants.

...(Spizzirri) had told (ABC I-Team reporter Chuck Goudie) that she was a registered nurse. But the station
reported that the institution from which she had claimed to receive her nursing degree had never given her
one. A hospital in which she had claimed to be a transplant nurse said she had been a patient care
assistant, which is ak in to a candy striper....

...On May 18, 1992 - four months before the fatal accident - Christina filed for an order of protection against
her mother...The complaint stated that Spizzirri had struck Christina “on several occasions and threatened
her on many occasions.

Per the May 30, 2000 Los Angeles Times, Ellis & Associates, the lifeguard training company discussed in Mills-Senn's
article, dumped the Heimlich-for-drowning protocol shortly after her article appeared.

But SALF continued to teach and promote the treatment.

Here's a May 3, 2001 workshop held at the Illinois PTA's annual convention:
A year later, my father told reporter Angela D. Sykora of the Grayslak e Review (IL):

SALF executives Rita Mullins (in the red turtleneck) and Carol Spizzirri (seated) w ith Mike "Heckuva job, Brow nie" Brow n
at January 23, 2003 signing cerem ony w hen SALF becam e a FEMA m em ber organization, US Conference of Mayors annual
m eeting, Washington, DC. Six years later, as first reported by The Sidebar, FEMA kicked SALF out.

Astoundingly, in January 2003 SALF became a member organization of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

My father marked the occasion with a joint letter to FEMA chief Mike Brown and Carol Spizzirri (page down) that included:
In other words, FEMA was fully aware that SALF's training program was putting the public at risk as the agency provided
SALF access "to train and educate children and families in basic first aid through the Citizen Corps network of state and
local councils."

Two years later, from SALF's annual "Bridge the Gap" convention in 2005:

Here comes the clincher.

When I started researching my father's career in 2002, I already knew he hadn't held a hospital job since he was fired for
misconduct in 1976 by Cincinnati's Jewish Hospital.

But I quickly learned that for decades he's been persona non grata in the medical profession.

Besides his crackpot claims that the Heimlich maneuver can revive drowning victims, stop asthma attacks, and cure
cystic fibrosis, the Heimlich Institute conducted a series of notorious offshore experiments in which US and foreign
nationals suffering with cancer, Lyme Disease, and AIDS were infected with malaria. (For more details, watch Brian Ross's
ABC 20/20 report, Is Dr. Heimlich really a savior?)

Sure he has a famous name, but what

legitimate organization would want him
as a medical adviser?

And what reputable first aid training

group would teach the public to perform
the Heimlich maneuver on drowning
victims, as reported by Pamela Mills-
Senn?

I wanted to find out for myself so in

early 2004, using a pseudonym, I e-
mailed SALF and asked for a position
statement.

In a chirpy, solicitous February 8, 2004

e-mail, Carol Spizzirri sent me the
following. (Page down to view the entire
letter which, incidentally, is littered with
grammatical errors.)

My father and SALF's second-in-com m and, form er Palatine, IL m ayor Rita Mullins

Were the CDC, the National Guard, and the Illinois government agencies aware that they were providing millions of dollars
to an organization that was teaching and promoting an unapproved, long-discredited medical treatment that might seriously
injure or kill people?

Did any of these agencies ever review SALF's training protocols? Did any of them ask the American Heart Association, the
American Red Cross, or independent medical experts to evaluate SALF's program?

What about the prominent public officials from Illinois like Arne Duncan, Senator Dick Durbin, Congressman John
Shimkus, Paul Vallas, Gery Chico, and others who promoted and/or helped fund SALF? Were they even aware what SALF
was teaching to students in their state?

In days to come, I'll try to get answers to those questions and will report the results here.

This item has been slightly revised.

Subject: RE: Author Inquiry: Heimlich maneuver for near-drowning
From: "Carol" <carol@salf.org>
Date: Mon, 9 Feb 2004 22:03:58 -0600
To: (REDACTED)

I apologize that there was no one here to take your call today and for the tartness of responding to
your email.

As to making an official statement in using the Heimlich maneuver for near-drowning victims, Save A
Life Foundation (SALF) does recognize the use of the Heimlich maneuver for near-drowning rescue
and makes reference to this in our class training. SALF's official training is based on Life Supporting
First Aid, as defined by Dr. Peter Safar, and in concurrence by Dr. Henry Heimlich who both are
founding members of SALF's Medical Board. "When a life is threaten, one must do anything possible
to save it." stated to me by Peter Safar, Father of CPR, 2000.

Researchers as Dr. Heimlich and Dr. Safar have dedicated their lives for man-kind. The countless lives
that have been saved by both of these individuals will never be truly recognized until we embrace
these skills as part of our life style and incorporate them in our school curriculum, giving future citizens
the ability to save a life.

Americans stand tens of years behind other countries in requiring these skills as part of driver's
education. Isn't is sad, that with these brilliant humanitarians in our midst, we have denied our own
people their talents and continuously question their research, even though we witness people's lives
saved with their use.

Dr. Heimlich himself would be more than happy to provide you with any data confirming his findings on
the use of the Heimlich maneuver in near drowning rescue, including a statement by Dr. Peter Safar,
deceased 2003. Please contact him at Heimlich Institute 513-559-2391, 311 Straight Street Cincinnati,
OH 45219.

If I can be of further assistance, do not hesitate to call me at 847-928-9683 or email me again.

Thank you for taking the initiative to bring this topic to light.

Warmest regards

Carol J Spizzirri
Pres/Founder
Save A Life Foundation
O'Hare Aerospace Center
9950 West Lawrence Ave Ste #300
Schiller Park, IL 60176

www@salf.org
carol@salf.org
 Carol Spiz7irii January 20.2(H)3
President Save a Life Foundation (SALFj

Mike Brown
National Director FEMA's Citizen Corps
HEIMUCH
IMSTlIllfE Dear Ms. Spi2-orri and Mr. Brown:
311 STRAIGHT
STREET I wish to congratulate you on the establishment of a partnership between SALF and
CNCIWJATI FEMA to prepare citizens to help assist in limes of disaster. This affiliation has the
OHO
*571S
potential to save thousands of lives.
613*S»-Z39i
FAXbT3-5»?4Q3 As you know, from my lectures at SALF national conferences, I am the discoverer of the
r^omtcii^^fcHj. com
Hcimlich maneuver. I am gratified that your organizations will tench the Maneuver in
your program. Be assured that the Hetmlich Institute and I. personally, will collaborate
with you in this effort

Tens of thousands of choking victims are saved by the Hcimlich maneuver because it is
known throughout the world. Yet. as the public was informed. President Rush fell
unconscious when aJone in a room in the White House* a* he choked on a pretzel. His
lite was saved because as he fell, his abdomen struck the floor, apparently performing ihe
effect of a Hcimlich maneuver. Everyone must be laugh! how to perform the Maneuver
on themselves.

SALF has been leaching lhat the Hcimlich maneuver be used lo sa\c drowning victims.
Drowning occurs because the lungs fill with water. The Maneuver clears the water from
the lun(js. saving 97% of unconscious, non-breathiny drowning persons Outdated
methods resulted in ihe death of 50-60% of such victims. Though lifeguards know to use
the Maneuver, one thousand children, especially toddlers, die of drowning in their home
every year — in bathtubs, pails of water, toilets, and pools. Only theparen; or baby siller
are present and must save these children.

Lastly, 5*000 Americans die annually during an asthma attack, a quarter of them arc
children The Hcimlich maneuver expels trapped air and mucous plugs, stopping the
attack and saving these lives.

Your cooperative effort will be successful and save many lives because SALF has the
experience of leaching lifesaving measures to masses of people — school children.
police, firelighters, and the public.

Benefiting
Humanr
Henry J. Hcimlich. M.D., Sc.lX
Through President, Hcitniwh Institute
Health
ana
Peace AttihaiBd with Deaconess Assocrauotis hie.