OTTAWA, March 29, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Advanced Coronary Treatment (ACT) Foundation announced today it is enhancing the ACT High School CPR and AED Program with an Opioids Overdose Response Training Module.
Support through a contribution from Health Canada’s Substance Use and Addictions Program (SUAP) will enable the ACT Foundation to expand its Ottawa pilot of the opioids awareness and response training to hundreds of high schools across Canada, empowering thousands of students every year.
The ACT High School CPR and AED Program is well established in high schools across the country. Enhancing the program with opioids awareness and response training is a natural next step in equipping youth to respond to life threatening emergencies they may encounter. Knowing the signs and symptoms of an opioid overdose and how to respond can help save lives.
The opioids module will follow ACT’s CPR program delivery model. High school teachers will be trained to teach students to recognize the signs of an opioids overdose, the importance of calling 911 quickly, and how to respond with the use of Naloxone nasal spray, and perform CPR when necessary.
“ACT has successfully delivered the High School CPR and AED Program in high schools across Canada. It is a natural progression to add opioid overdose response training,” says Dr. Justin Maloney, National Medical Director and Chair, ACT Foundation. “We want to empower students and teachers by adding to their lifesaving toolbox.”
“We are really pleased to receive support from Health Canada, enabling the ACT Foundation to expand the opioids overdose response training to thousands of young Canadians through the school program,” says Sandra Clarke, the ACT Foundation’s Executive Director. “This is what ACT does. We empower high school students to save lives.”
The ACT Foundation
The ACT Foundation is the national charitable organization establishing free CPR and AED training 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 deliver the program. High school teachers are trained to then teach lifesaving skills to their students as a regular part of the curriculum, reaching all youth prior to graduation. The ACT High School CPR and AED Program is made possible with the support of its national partners AstraZeneca Canada and Amgen Canada. The ACT Foundation gratefully acknowledges the financial support of Health Canada for the ACT Opioid Overdose Response Training implementation.
Website: actfoundation.ca
Twitter: @actfoundation #ACT2Save
Facebook: @theactfoundation
Instagram: @actfoundation
YouTube: YouTube.com/theactfoundation
For more information about the ACT Foundation and the ACT Opioid Overdose Response Training contact:
Cristiane Doherty
Communications Manager
The ACT Foundation
cdoherty@actfoundation.ca
Cell: 613-799-9277
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/0638522a-ab51-4a48-b5be-f6ed92ed0916