Alicia Cole has an emotionally moving and important story to tell regarding the short comings of our healthcare system. She is a very talented presenter who is enduring a significant handicap. Her willingness to share her story so others will never have to endure what she is currently going through is a strong motivator for healthcare professionals to change the system. To become more patient centered and less profit driven.

Alicia Cole is founder of the Alliance for Safety Awareness for Patients (ASAP). She was one of the keynote speaker at the 2010 Conference for Healthcare Transparency and Patient Advocacy in Lexington, KY. Her message was riveting and relevant. As she shared her story you could hear a pin drop. After being the victim of a iatrogenic infection (hospital acquired), she has chosen to channel her energies (in spite of ongoing health issues) as a patient advocate to help make healthcare safer for others. All laypeople and healthcare workers from the bedside to the C-Suite should make an effort to hear Alicia speak. GO! Hospital acquired infections kill > 90,000 people each year.

This is s non profit agency that is truly advocates for patients. Lisa Cole, CEO of the organization is a true believer of patient awareness and safe practice in the medical field. I fully support this type of organization and find it to be one that truly has the right of patients at the heart. Please join or support this organization. Any and all of help is needed to make sure that patients will always have safe and clean medical practice.

Alicia Cole blessed my high school academy in the month of september of 2009. I attended Blair High Schools Health Careers Academy in the city of Pasadena, where over 200 future health professionals are trained and given the tools to be amazing leaders in healthcare. As future health professionals we were always looking for ways to learn the business as much as possible. Mrs Cole agreed to share her amazing story of survival from MRSA. She tugged at the heartstrings of students and parents alike and gave us all great assurance of what our future was to look like that day. Her story of a hospital aquired infection proved to us that there are flaws in the health profession and made us determined to fix them in our bright futures. The city of Pasadena greatly thanked Ms. Cole for her time and courage and truly was one of the most memorable experiences yet.

Unfortunately, my friend Lisa almost died from a hospital infection. Fortunately, she survived. Lisa promised herself that if she survived, she would share her experiences and educate the public. Because of Lisa's near death experience, Alliance For Safety Awareness For Patients was born. ASAP is Lisa's way of keeping her word and showing her committment as an advocate working to educate the public on hospital infections as well as ways to prevent hospital infections. There is no doubt in my mind that Lisa's efforts will have a direct result on reform and accountability for those who have been affected...and sadly, for those who stand to be affected by these types of infections. Lisa is one of the few to survive such an experience. Through difficult times and stressful situations, Lisa consistently keeps her word to be an advocate for this cause. Considering all that Lisa has gone through, she is being very selfless and courageous as she shares her experiences and educates the public.

Alicia Cole, the founder of ASAP, has been one of the greatest inspirations of my life. Her mission to help save lives has touched me in so many ways. I'm so inspired by her tenacity and determination to make a difference in this world. I share her story and her mission all the time; others are left not only inspired, but also educated about hospital infections and what they need to do to protect themselves and their loved ones. My hope is that by sharing Alicia Cole's journey, I'm also helping ASAP save lives.

Last year, I phoned a friend of mine in panic. One of the young women in my family was in the hospital with something the doctors could not diagnose. We were having trouble speaking with them and concerned that the right tests were being performed. My friend referred me to Alliance For Safety Awareness For Patients. I went on their website and received information on how to speak with the doctors, was comforted in what we needed to know about her long stay in the hospital and became pro-active in her treatment; in the doctors finally finding out what was wrong with her and a peace of mind came over us because we were able to speak to the doctors with a knowledge of what to ask for. Our emotions weren't getting in the doctors' way any longer. We were calmed. I recommended this organization to many friends. I'd never seen a website like this. It is full of information that is very clear and easy to read. It put the power back into my family's hand, which made for a speedier recovery because we, again, were no longer just operating from emotion. I think this is a very valuable service. I honestly do not have any constructive criticism. I found this website to be thorough and easy to navigate.

I am extremely proud to contribute my time to this extremely beneficial organization. I am not only a personal friend of Ms. Cole but an admirer of her fight and struggle of a very important cause. She not only took on this monumental challenge, for her own necessity, but from the beginning of her ordeal, thought of how others were facing similar situations. Against every obstacle, health, financial, legal, and on and on, she gathered the fortitude to pick up the metaphoric slingshot to take on the Goliath challenge that has created this noble nonprofit. I am forever grateful for what ASAP does and even more gratefully will continue to help wherever and whenever I possibly can.

I am constantly referring my pre-med students, pre-dental and nursing students, friends and family to the ASAP website for patient safety and medical information. It is a great resource. Not only is the information important but it can help save lives.

This is a wonderful organization with an abundance of crucial information for anyone needing information navigating the hospital/ healthcare system. Alicia Cole is an inspiring and charismatic speaker who has shared the tribulations of her life experience with the hope that it will prevent others from suffering the same ordeal. As a middle school teacher of students with high-functioning autism at an at-risk low performing school, I am hoping that sometime in the future, she will be able to visit my school to educate and empower our youth.