OTTAWA, ON-- November is CPR Month in Canada and Canada is a leader in high school CPR. Over 2 million students have been empowered with lifesaving skills through the ACT High School CPR and Defibrillator Program.
ACT is the organization that is establishing free CPR and defibrillator training programs in high schools. ACT's health partners who are committed to bringing this program across the country are AstraZeneca Canada, Pfizer Canada and Sanofi.
Since 1994, ACT, with the support of its health, provincial and community partners, has donated more than 50,000 durable mannequins to over 1,600 high schools, and more than 6,000 teachers have been trained as CPR Instructors for their students.
With the ongoing addition of defibrillator training to the program, students are now learning both CPR and how to use a defibrillator in a cardiac arrest emergency.
Many have already saved lives. For example, 16-year-old Jessica rushed to help after her mother cried out that Hubert, Jessica's father, was unresponsive and not breathing.
Jessica quickly performed the CPR skills she had learned through the ACT Program at her school. "It was a question of survival for my father," says Jessica.
To learn more about Jessica's story and so many more like hers, view our Rescue Video at http://youtu.be/IWTSXcx2lpI, visit http://www.actfoundation.ca/act-rescues/stories/ or contact the ACT Foundation.