Penn Lifesaver: A Safer, More Prepared Penn
The Penn Lifesaver Initiative is a campus-wide effort to make Penn one of the nation’s most medically prepared universities. Through free, hands-on emergency response education, Penn Lifesaver equips students, faculty, and staff with the skills and confidence to recognize a medical emergency, take action, and help when seconds matter.
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Lifesaving skills for the Penn community
In cardiac arrest, opioid overdose, severe bleeding, choking, and other medical emergencies, the actions of a nearby bystander can make a critical difference. Penn Lifesaver makes practical emergency response education more accessible across campus, helping members of the Penn community feel prepared to act during those crucial first minutes.
Participants can learn essential skills including:
- Hands-Only CPR
- AED use
- Naloxone (NARCAN) administration
- Choking response
- Bleeding control
No medical background required. The goal is simple: give more people the knowledge and confidence to help until professional responders arrive.
How Penn Lifesaver Works
First-Year Training
Each September, Penn Lifesaver brings hands-on emergency response education directly to first-year College Houses, introducing students to lifesaving skills early in their Penn experience.
Campus and Community Outreach
Penn Lifesaver also supports large-scale CPR education and outreach across Penn and the Philadelphia community, extending lifesaving knowledge beyond the classroom and into the places where people live, learn, work, and connect.
Our Goal: Build a Culture of Preparedness
By the end of the five-year initiative, Penn Lifesaver is expected to:
- Train more than 12,500 undergraduate students in essential lifesaving skills
- Provide 700 to 1,200 free American Heart Association certifications
- Train thousands of additional students, faculty, staff, and community members in Hands-Only CPR
But the impact goes beyond numbers.
Penn Lifesaver represents a long-term investment in community responsibility and emergency preparedness. By embedding lifesaving education into the Penn experience, the initiative aims to ensure that more members of our community are ready to make a difference when seconds matter.
Made Possible Through Partnership
Penn Lifesaver is made possible by a five-year philanthropic investment from Joshua A. Kazam, W’99, and Joia Kazam, President and Treasurer, respectively, of the Desert Flower Foundation, in loving memory of Joshua’s mother, Bonnie B. Kazam, M.D., CW’69.
The initiative brings together Wellness at Penn, Penn Medicine, Penn MERT, the Division of Public Safety, College Houses & Academic Services, and the Mobile CPR Project to build a safer, more prepared campus.
Ready to Learn How to Save a Life?
You don’t have to be a healthcare professional to make a difference in an emergency. A few practical skills and the confidence to use them can matter enormously.
Get trained. Be prepared. Become a Penn Lifesaver.