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Flag Day Training to Focus on First Aid Skills for Citizens of the National Capital Region

Citizen Corps Affiliate American Safety and Health Institute Trains 2004

Release Date: June 14

As a salute to Flag Day, the American Safety and Health Institute (ASHI) today trained 200 citizens from the National Capital Region in basic first aid, cardio-pulmonary resuscitation, and automatic external defibrillator use. ASHI is an affiliate of Citizen Corps, the Department of Homeland Security's grassroots initiative that encourages everyone to play a role in hometown security through personal preparedness, training, and volunteer service.

C. Suzanne Mencer, Director of the Office of State and Local Government Coordination and Preparedness expressed her support for the training, "The flag is one of our strongest unifying national symbols and Flag Day offers us the opportunity to reflect on what it means to be an American. Embracing the responsibility to get training to help others in times of crisis exemplifies the American spirit and I congratulate these participants."

Coordinated by the Citizen Corps councils of the National Capital Region, residents of the District of Columbia, Virginia, and Maryland attended the training, which was co-sponsored by Nextel, Inc. a leading provider of fully integrated wireless communications services and Medtronic, the world leader in medical technology, pioneering therapies that restore health, extend life and alleviate pain, including AEDs.

In 95 percent of all emergencies, either the victim or a bystander provides the first, critical assistance at the scene. Training is essential to ensure that we all have the necessary life-saving skills. "When people take personal responsibility to be prepared, get training, and volunteer to support their local first responders, we become a stronger nation," said Barbara Childs-Pair, Director of the DC Emergency Management Agency, "Citizens and their actions can make a significant difference."

ASHI trains approximately one million-plus students each year in its life-saving training programs. Working with Citizen Corps, ASHI encourages these trainees to help implement local Citizen Corps programs and to volunteer for local Citizen Corps Councils around the country. "With training in life-saving and safety skills, we can all be prepared to help others and to be effective in a crisis situation," says Gregg Rich, chair of the board of directors for ASHI. "We are delighted to facilitate this training for the citizens of the National Capital Region."

A vital part of USA Freedom Corps, Citizen Corps (www.citizencorps.gov) encourages everyone in America to answer the President's "call to service" and take an active role in building safer, stronger and better-prepared communities through preparedness, training, and volunteer service. The Department's website, www.ready.gov, also provides critical information on citizen preparedness.

ASHI is a not for profit association of professional safety & health educators focusing on excellence in education in the areas of CPR, AED, First Aid, workplace safety/disaster preparedness, rescue and wilderness survival skills, among others, while successfully targeting all areas of safety and health, helping to educate the lay public and emergency service professionals alike. To learn more about ASHI's programs, visit www.ashinstitute.org.

The National Capital Region means the geographic area located within the boundaries of (A) the District of Columbia, (B) Montgomery and Prince Georges Counties in the State of Maryland, (C) Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William Counties and the City of Alexandria in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and (D) all cities and other units of government within the geographic areas of such District, Counties, and City.