THE B.C. HIGH SCHOOL CPR PROGRAM

The BC Ambulance Service (BCAS), the Advanced Coronary Treatment (ACT) Foundation and the Ambulance Paramedics of BC – CUPE 873 (APBC) are working together to bring the life-saving CPR program to all B.C. high schools by 2010.

Importance of CPR Training

According to Statistics Canada, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in Canada. Research suggests that 85 per cent of heart attacks occur in the home – suddenly and with little warning. Bystanders provide CPR in approximately eight per cent of cardiac arrest cases attended by BCAS paramedics. With provincewide instruction in schools, the number of bystanders trained in B.C. could rise to as much as 60 per cent within 20 years.

BC Ambulance Service (BCAS)

The BC Ambulance Service is the largest provider of emergency health care in Canada and one of the largest in North America. BCAS paramedics respond to nearly half a million calls per year and approximately 2,500 of those calls involve patients who have experienced cardiac arrest.

Advanced Coronary Treatment (ACT) Foundation

The ACT Foundation is an award-winning, national, charitable organization dedicated to promoting health and empowering Canadians to save lives. ACT's goal is to establish the lifesaving CPR program in every Canadian high school by raising funds for CPR mannequins and guiding schools in program set up. ACT has already established the CPR program in over 900 high schools across Canada, and over 900,000 youth have been trained to date. ACT’s core/sustaining funders are committed to ACT’s cross-Canada goal. They are: AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb Canada, Pfizer Canada and sanofi-aventis. For more information, please visit: www.actfoundation.ca.

Ambulance Paramedics of British Columbia – CUPE Local 873 (APBC)

The APBC, CUPE Local 873, is the union representing paramedics who are employed by the BC Ambulance Service. The APBC takes a particular interest in encouraging British Columbians to learn CPR, a simple, easy to learn, lifesaving procedure, as it is currently performed in only 16 per cent of cardiac arrests attended to by paramedics.

For more information about how to get your school involved in this free, self-sustaining program please contact the ACT Foundation at 1-800-465-9111 or via e-mail at act@actfoundation.ca

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Media contact:	Chris Harbord Client Relations, BCAS 250 953-3651	Connie Smart Communications Manager, ACT 1-800-465-9111

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