More than 200 students and community members in First Nation Communities of Whitedog and Grassy Narrows to be empowered with lifesaving skills

WHITEDOG, ON--(Marketwired - October 27, 2017) - The Advanced Coronary Treatment (ACT) Foundation and lead community partner Hydro One are launching student and community training in CPR and defibrillation in the communities of Whitedog and Grassy Narrows. This initiative will see more than 200 students and community members empowered with essential lifesaving skills.

The media are invited to the event at 9:30 am at Mizhakiiwetung Memorial School, Whitedog, ON P0X 1P0 on October 24, 2017 and Sakatcheway Anishinabe School, 1 Education Drive, Grassy Narrows, ON, P0X1B0 on October 25, 2017.

The ACT Foundation is the charitable organization that is establishing CPR and defibrillator training programs in high schools throughout Ontario and across Canada.

ACT is working in partnership with the Kenora Chiefs Advisory, lead community partner Hydro One, and health partners, AstraZeneca Canada, Sanofi Canada, and Amgen Canada, to bring this program to the communities of Whitedog and Grassy Narrows. This initiative will see each school receives CPR and automated external defibrillator (AED) training mannequins and AED training units.

"Hydro One proudly supports the ACT Foundation's CPR training because we believe that safety should always come first," said Derek Chum, Vice President, Indigenous Relations, Hydro One. "Whether at home, school or work, this curriculum will empower students with the skills and knowledge to save lives."

"Seeing the expansion of ACT to more schools across Canada is a source of great pride for Sanofi Canada, a founding partner in the program," says Niven Al-Khoury, President and CEO of Sanofi Canada.

Thanks to our partners:

• More than 200 students and community members to be trained in CPR and how to use a defibrillator
• 56 mannequins to be donated
• 8 defibrillator training units to be donated

With eight in 10 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occurring at home or in public places, empowering youth with CPR training as part of their high school education will help increase citizen CPR response rates over the long term.

Early CPR combined with early defibrillation can increase the chance of survival for cardiac arrest victims by up to 75% according to Heart and Stroke Foundation.

"We are thrilled with the support of our partners," says Sandra Clarke, the ACT Foundation's Executive Director. "Thanks to them, we are able to bring this lifesaving program to Whitedog and Grassy Narrows, ensuring all youth will be trained. Students and community members will bring their lifesaving skills to current and future families, building stronger communities and saving lives. Consult the link to many rescue stories."

To date, the ACT Foundation has set up the CPR Program in more than 1,790 high schools nation-wide, empowering more than 3.9 million youth to save lives.

About the ACT Foundation

The ACT Foundation is the national charitable organization that is establishing the free CPR and AED program in Canadian high schools. The program is built on ACT's award-winning community-based model of partnerships and support, whereby ACT finds local partners who donate the mannequins and AED training units that schools need to set up the program. High school teachers then teach CPR and how to use a defibrillator to their students as a regular part of the curriculum, reaching all youth prior to graduation. ACT's partners committed to bringing the program to Ontario are provincial partners, the Government of Ontario and Hydro One, and health partners, AstraZeneca Canada, Sanofi Canada, and Amgen Canada.

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