Empowering 7.5M Lifesavers: Disque Foundation’s 2024 Impact

The Disque Foundation is proud to announce in 2024, in collaboration with Save a Life Certifications by NHCPS, we awarded approximately 1.49 million free healthcare certifications. This monumental effort was fueled by the unwavering support of our partners and volunteers, the dedication of our Save a Life Initiative (SALI) trainers, and the enthusiasm of our community of learners. 

Together, we have empowered over 7.5 million people in 187 countries with life-saving knowledge and skills—a remarkable milestone on our journey to educate and prepare everyday heroes.

From 2015 through 2024, the Disque Foundation has distributed over $227 million in free certifications, demonstrating our steadfast commitment to making life-saving education accessible to all. 

This incredible investment in global health not only furthers our mission to empower ten million people with the ability to save a life by 2025 but also reflects our promise of financial transparency and the tangible impact of every contribution. Each certification represents not just a credential, but a potential life saved and a community made safer.

Our Expanding Global Footprint

In 2024, the Disque Foundation made unprecedented strides in expanding its global reach. Through its training programs, we empowered an average of 4,082 new lifesavers every day, a figure that underscores the immense worldwide appetite for critical life-saving skills. 

From bustling cities to remote villages, our free courses in CPR, Basic Life Support (BLS), Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS), Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), and other emergency techniques equipped people from all walks of life to respond confidently in crises. Each day’s new trainees mean more homes, workplaces, and communities are prepared to act when it matters most.

Crucially, this impact transcended borders, reaching learners in 187 countries and proving that the need for emergency preparedness is universal. Our educational programs continue to demonstrate that life-saving skills can transcend geography and demographics, uniting people with the common goal of saving lives. 

Every additional individual empowered brings us one step closer to a future where a bystander can become a lifesaver anywhere in the world. As we close out 2024, we are also drawing nearer to our largest goal yet—empowering ten million people by 2025. This year’s progress has shown that this once-ambitious target is now firmly within reach, inspiring us to push even harder in the coming year.

The Power of Partnerships

Our success in 2024 is deeply rooted in collaboration and community. The Save a Life Initiative’s certified trainers—from doctors and nurses to firefighters, military personnel, and teachers—worked hand-in-hand with local organizations to bring training to where it was needed most. In 2024, our network of SALI Trainers led 280 events, empowering more than 12,016 individuals with the confidence and skills to act in emergencies. 

This network includes hundreds of dedicated professionals and volunteers across the globe, each contributing uniquely to our mission. These events ranged from CPR classes in schools and workplaces to large-scale community health fairs, all driven by the passion of those who share our vision of a world filled with prepared responders.

One inspiring example of partnership in action comes from Ecuador, where our partner Centro De Capacitacion Respirar has taken the foundation’s advanced life support education and turned it into a transformative force for their local community. By hosting training sessions in their region, they have equipped countless citizens – from students to professionals – with critical emergency response skills, creating a ripple effect of preparedness in their city. 

Similarly, in countries around the globe, dedicated SALI trainers and partner institutions organized life-saving workshops this year. Whether it was volunteers teaching first aid in remote African villages or collaborating with the Philippine Army to train soldiers in CPR, each partnership amplified our reach and impact. We are incredibly grateful to every partner, including healthcare professionals, educational institutions, and community leaders, who have been instrumental in broadening our impact. Together, this remarkable network of SALI partners is helping to build a safer world by ensuring life-saving knowledge reaches those who need it most.

Advancing Accessibility and Innovation in Education

At the Disque Foundation, we firmly believe that access to quality education can transform health outcomes. Throughout 2024, we continued to leverage technology and innovative methods to make life-saving training accessible to anyone, anywhere. We expanded our library of free online courses and resources, ensuring that any learner with an internet connection – whether in a major city or a rural village – can train in CPR and other critical skills at their own pace. We also hosted numerous live and recorded webinars on CPR, AED, first aid, and advanced life support, which allowed us to reach participants in real time across different continents. These online training sessions have been pivotal in bringing high-quality education to those who cannot attend in-person classes, effectively breaking down geographical and financial barriers to learning.

Innovation remained at the forefront of our educational approach. This year we explored new tools, such as virtual reality simulations for advanced cardiac life support scenarios, to enhance the learning experience for remote students. We continually updated our course content to reflect the latest emergency care guidelines and best practices, so that every trainee is learning the most current and effective techniques. 

By constantly improving both the accessibility and the quality of our programs, we ensure that as our community of lifesavers grows, each individual trained receives the knowledge and confidence they need to make a difference. Our commitment to accessibility and innovation means that even in the most remote or underserved areas, life-saving education is no longer out of reach.

The Heart of Our Mission: The Save a Life Initiative

At the core of the Disque Foundation’s mission is the Save a Life Initiative (SALI), our flagship program dedicated to equipping ordinary people with extraordinary skills. SALI was born from a simple yet powerful idea: the same advanced life-saving techniques developed for healthcare providers should be taught to everyone, everywhere. In practice, this means our courses are designed for anyone willing to learn – from medical students and nurses to parents, teachers, and bus drivers. The goal of SALI is ambitious but clear: to empower ten million people with the ability to save a life by 2025. As of the end of 2024, we are well on our way to achieving this vision, with over 7.5 million lifesavers already empowered through SALI’s programs.

This journey to 7.5 million has been nothing short of inspiring. When the Save a Life Initiative began in 2015, reaching one million people seemed like a lofty dream. Yet by 2019, we had already hit our first million empowered, and the momentum only grew from there. We celebrated our four-millionth trainee in 2022 – a nurse from Nigeria whose story exemplified the global reach of our mission – and we crossed the six-million mark by early 2024. Now, standing at 7.5 million and counting, we can truly see how a grassroots movement of education can accelerate over time. Each milestone in this historical progress is not just a number, but a reflection of thousands of individual decisions to learn and to teach. It demonstrates the power of collective action: every person trained through SALI often becomes an advocate who then inspires others to get trained, creating a chain reaction of empowerment. With this exponential growth, our once ambitious ten-million goal is on the horizon, proving that when passion and purpose drive us, no target is unattainable.

Innovating Education to Break Barriers

Education is at the heart of empowerment. We design all of our courses and programs with inclusivity and clarity in mind, ensuring that anyone – regardless of their background or prior medical knowledge – can grasp these vital skills. Complex medical procedures and terminologies are broken down into understandable, practical lessons. Whether a learner is a seasoned healthcare professional refreshing their knowledge or a high school student encountering CPR for the first time, our materials meet them at their level. We incorporate videos, step-by-step guides, megacode, and practice tests to reinforce learning in a way that’s engaging and easy to follow. And because the field of emergency medicine is always evolving, we prioritize keeping our content up-to-date: our curriculum is continuously revised to align with the latest guidelines and best practices in CPR and advanced life support, so graduates of our programs can trust that they’re prepared with current, evidence-based techniques.

Beyond knowledge and technical skills, our educational philosophy emphasizes confidence-building and a hands-on mindset. We encourage scenario-based learning – for example, having trainees walk through the steps of responding to a simulated cardiac arrest or choking incident – so that when faced with a real-life emergency, they won’t be paralyzed by uncertainty. Whenever possible, we facilitate practical sessions with mannequins and training defibrillators, giving learners muscle memory in addition to textbook knowledge. We also strive to foster a supportive learning environment; questions are welcomed, and mistakes are treated as learning opportunities. By empowering students in this way, we help transform apprehensive beginners into confident lifesavers. The success of our millions of trained individuals, many of whom have gone on to save lives or train others, is a testament to the effectiveness of this philosophy. We firmly believe that with the right approach, anyone can learn to save a life – and every day, our community proves this to be true.

Community at the Core: SALI Trainers and Partners

The spirit of gratitude permeates everything we do at the Disque Foundation. We are endlessly thankful for every learner who chooses to empower themselves and others, every trainer who volunteers their time and expertise, and every partner who amplifies our reach. Every individual who has joined our cause in 2024 – in whatever capacity – has become a vital part of our life-saving community. It is thanks to each of you that we edge closer to a world where everyone is prepared to help when an emergency strikes. Your passion and commitment fuel our own, reinforcing our belief that together, we can make a difference.

We are especially moved by the personal stories that have emerged from our global community of lifesavers. This year, we heard about parents reviving their children from choking, bystanders confidently performing CPR on strangers in cardiac arrest, and youth volunteers setting up first aid clubs in their neighborhoods – all because they had the training and courage to act. These stories of ordinary people becoming heroes in critical moments are the true measure of our success and motivation. They remind us that the statistics we report represent real lives touched and emergencies averted. Every time someone uses their training to save a life or even to step forward and assist, it creates a ripple of hope that spreads far beyond that one incident. To every member of our community – learners, trainers, volunteers, and supporters – thank you. Your dedication and compassion are what make this movement possible, and we draw inspiration from every one of you.

Real Voices, Real Impact

None of these achievements would be possible without the generous support of those who believe in our mission. Every donation, every volunteer hour, and every shared resource has contributed to building this global network of lifesavers. We take our responsibility to our supporters seriously. The Disque Foundation pledges that 100% of all public donations go directly toward funding our cause  – including underwriting free certification courses, free webinar training, and the deployment of SALI trainers to communities in need. Our core operating costs and overhead are covered by our founders’ pledge, which means that when you donate, every dollar truly goes to saving lives. This level of transparency and commitment to financial accountability is core to our values and essential for maintaining the trust of our community and partners.

Where Generosity Meets Transparency: Over $227 Million in Free Certifications

The impact of our donors’ support is evident in every statistic and story we’ve shared. The over $227 million in free certifications given out since 2015  is a direct reflection of your compassion and our shared commitment to empowering others. Those dollars translate into real-world skills in the hands of people who can make a difference in emergencies. We’ve seen how funding a single training session can lead to dozens of lives changed, and how providing a scholarship for an online course can enable someone to save a neighbor’s life. By investing in education, our supporters have helped build a more resilient world, where knowledge of CPR and first aid is spreading to corners that were once left vulnerable. For this, we extend our deepest gratitude to all the donors, sponsors, and collaborators who have stood by us. Your support saves lives, and we are honored to be the stewards of your generosity in this mission.

Shaping Tomorrow’s Lifesavers

As we celebrate the progress of 2024, we remain acutely aware of the work still ahead – and we’re more motivated than ever to tackle it. Looking toward 2025 and beyond, we are energized by the prospect of reaching our landmark goal of ten million empowered individuals and then setting our sights even higher. The challenges in global health and emergency preparedness are great, but our collective resolve is greater. Every day, more people are raising their hands to learn, teach, and give. This growing wave of participation gives us hope that we truly can create a world where no one is powerless in the face of an emergency.

We warmly invite you to join us in this life-saving movement. Whether you are an individual passionate about helping others, a healthcare professional dedicated to education, or an organization seeking to improve community health, there is a place for you in the Disque Foundation family. Together, we can continue to expand our reach and deepen our impact – turning more ordinary citizens into confident first responders, and making critical health knowledge universally accessible. The journey is far from over; in fact, it’s just gaining momentum. With your help and involvement, our best chapters are yet to be written. We’ve shown what’s possible in a short time, and with each new ally that joins our cause, the vision of a world where everyone has the power to save a life comes closer to reality.

Join the Movement

There are several ways to become part of this mission and help save lives:

• Become a Trainer: Share your knowledge and passion by becoming a certified SALI Trainer. By leading courses in your community, you’ll directly empower others with life-saving skills and exponentially multiply the impact of our initiative.
• Volunteer: Donate your time and skills. Whether assisting at training events, translating course materials, or providing administrative support, volunteers are the backbone of our outreach efforts. You don’t need medical experience—just a willingness to help.
• Donate: Every contribution, no matter the size helps provide free training and certification to those who need it most. Your donations fund CPR manikins for community classes, online course access for learners in developing countries, and much more. Remember, 100% of public donations go directly to program services, so your gift has a direct impact.
• Partner with Us: If you represent a school, hospital, business, or nonprofit, consider partnering with the Disque Foundation. We work with institutions worldwide to bring our training programs to new audiences. As a partner, you can host life-saving training events with our support or integrate our online courses into your organization. Together, we can tailor a program that benefits your community and advances our shared mission.

For more information on any of these opportunities or to access our free life-saving courses, please visit our website or contact our team. Together, we can create a world where knowledge of emergency care is universal and everyone has the chance to be a lifesaver.