Ed Mann, Pennsylvania State Fire Commissioner, serves as State Advocate for the Everyone Goes Home Firefighter Life Safety Initiatives Program and is instrumental in the development and introduction of the Courage to Be Safe Program throughout the state of Pennsylvania. Ed would like to share the following letter he received from one of his students.

I had the pleasure of attending your "Courage to be Safe" presentation on January 25 of this year. I had told my wife a few months earlier that I really needed to get in shape, because I was getting out of breath when I strenuously exerted myself. After seeing your program, I decided the time was now. Shortly thereafter, I saw my family physician and told her how I had been feeling, and needed to know if there was a problem, or if it was just that I was now 50 years old and needed to get in shape. She arranged a stress test, and within a few days called and said I needed to see a Cardiologist because of some abnormalities the stress test revealed. I called their office and made an appointment for the next available opening at the end of March. Within days the Cardiologist called me and said I could not wait that long and they were going to squeeze me in the next day. To make a long story short, after a catherization, I had open heart surgery on April 3 for 4 by-passes. I am currently attending cardiac rehab and feeling very good with the progress. Although I realize my interior structure fire days may be over, I have been able to resume my administrative duties within the department and have been told by the Cardiologist I will be able to resume working shortly, and should get back to normal with time. The most positive thing the doctors have stressed is the fact that I caught this before having a heart attack and before any damage was done to the heart.

Please feel free to share this with your "Courage to be Safe" instructors! Just maybe the one life you all saved this year was mine!