Jim Schatzle, founder of Team Life, Inc., is in the business of saving lives. As a teen, Jim made a decision that was to impact his life and many others. As a 16 year old volunteer on his town’s first-aid squad, he found it gratifying to be on hand to help save a life. From that point on, there was no stopping him. Being exposed to all kinds of unfortunate, preventable accidents was the impetus for his desire to turn his avocation into a vocation and make a difference.
In 1994, he opened Team Life, Inc., an AED company that provides life-saving products to businesses and schools, and trains thousands each year to save lives. Since that time, Jim’s ongoing mission has been to make the environment safer and to do his best to help save lives.
One of the biggest frustrations of his job is when he sees preventable accidents happen over and over such as drinking and driving, texting and driving, and children drowning in backyard swimming pools. Though the outcomes of those accidents are out of his control, Jim felt that he could be an instrument of change for the outcome of sudden cardiac arrest, the number one killer in America.
As a paramedic, Jim grew increasingly frustrated by having to tell families that it was too late. Currently, there is only a five percent survival rate. Even though an ambulance arrives in 8-10 minutes, more often than not, it is too late. He wanted to figure out a way to move the needle of survival rate for sudden cardiac arrest…and he did. He developed the Team Life CPR app for the Smartphone.
Since 70 percent of Americans do not know CPR or their training has lapsed, this “rescue” app takes away all the guess work and the “what ifs” and can potentially double or triple a victim’s chances for survival. Because of his twenty years as a paramedic, he knew that people in panic situations are prone to forgetting. Thus, all somebody has to do is press one button and a video provides audible and visual prompts, counting compressions. Guilt is alleviated from the equation because no longer do people have to wonder “what if” when there is no ambulance in sight; the solution is right at their fingertips.
Jim believes that anyone can be a hero. His CPR training courses empowers thousands each year to save lives, but Jim finds it particularly gratifying to have a parent come up to him and say that because of one of his training classes, they were able to save their choking child. When he hears this, Jim says, “It just doesn’t get any better than that!”
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