Labrador North Teachers & Students to Learn CPR

NAIN, NL AND NATUASHISH, NL--(Marketwired - November 01, 2016) - The ACT High School CPR and Defibrillator Training Program has come to Nain and Natuashish with teachers being trained as instructors to empower their students to save lives. Every year, high school students will be learning how to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and how to use an automated external defibrillator (AED).

The Advanced Coronary Treatment (ACT) Foundation is the charitable organization that is establishing free CPR and defibrillator training programs in high schools across Canada. The Foundation promotes awareness and education on the prevention of emergencies, health and safety, and community response to save lives. The program also has a strong health promotion component, encouraging youth to adopt healthy lifestyle habits from a young age.

ACT is working in partnership with lead community partner, Vale, and health partners AstraZeneca Canada, Pfizer Canada, and Sanofi Canada to bring this lifesaving program to the communities of Nain and Natuashish.

Thanks to the support of ACT's partners, two Labrador North high schools, Jens Haven Memorial School in Nain, and Mushuau Innu Natuashish School in Natuashish are receiving training mannequins, AED training units, curriculum materials, program set-up and an AED for on-site cardiac arrest emergencies.

The teacher training workshops were provided by instructors from First Aid Plus. In Natuashish, teachers were trained at the Mushuau Innu Natuashish School on October 26, 2016. In Nain, teachers were trained at the Jens Haven Memorial School on October 28, 2016. In addition to the high school program, teachers and school staff were also trained in CPR and how to use a defibrillator in both, Nain and Natuashish.

"Vale is pleased to be supporting ACT in the delivery of this vital training to teachers in the schools in Nain and Natuashish," said Peter Langlois, General Manager of Vale's operations in Labrador.

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

"As a founding partner of the ACT Foundation, we have proudly watched this program expand to communities from coast to coast. Not only are youth learning critical skills that stay with them for a lifetime, they also gain an appreciation of the science behind the techniques and, in some cases, go on to pursue careers in such areas as nursing, medicine, and emergency services," says Ed Dybka, President and CEO, AstraZeneca Canada.

To date, the ACT High School CPR Program has been established in 1,740 high schools across Canada and approximately 3.2 million students have already been empowered to save lives with CPR.

"We are thrilled with the support of our partners," says Sandra Clarke, the ACT Foundation's Executive Director. "With it, we can empower Nain and Natuashish youth, as well as extend these essential lifesaving skills to all school staff, ensuring that the entire community can benefit from this initiative."

About the ACT Foundation

The ACT Foundation is the national charitable organization that is creating a culture of lifesaving by establishing the CPR and AED program in all 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 are trained as instructors to 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 national health partners, committed to bringing the program to schools across Canada are AstraZeneca Canada, Pfizer Canada and Sanofi Canada. To date, the ACT Foundation has set up the CPR Program in more than 1,740 high schools nation-wide, empowering more than 3.2 million youth to save lives. For more information visit www.actfoundation.ca.

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