Physical education teacher saves father’s life

Bill has been teaching CPR to his students at Montreal’s Argyle Academy since 1997. Until ACT brought the course to his high school, Bill had never taken CPR. But he is glad he did, because in February 1999, Bill had to put his skills to work when his 84-year-old father collapsed in cardiac arrest.

The pair had just finished eating lunch in a Montreal cafeteria when Harry suffered a massive heart attack. Bill acted quickly by performing CPR while bystanders called 911. An ambulance arrived about 5 minutes later with a defibrillator.

Harry never would have survived had his son not initiated CPR. The impact of his own actions is not lost on Bill.

“When I was doing CPR I was nervous because he was so close me,” says Bill, “I felt great afterwards. I saved someone who is very important to his children and grandchildren.”

The ACT High School CPR Program is made possible in Quebec thanks to the generous provincial-level support of the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation, the Quebec Ministry of Health and Social Services, the Quebec Ministry of Education, Recreation and Sports, and Sun Life Financial, as well as community-level partners. This support enables the donation of mannequins, teacher training and curriculum resources for high schools.

The Advanced Coronary Treatment (ACT) Foundation is an award-winning, national charitable organization dedicated to establishing CPR in high schools across Canada. ACT raises funds to donate mannequins, teacher training, manuals and other materials to schools, and guides schools in program set-up and long-term sustainability. Teachers teach CPR to their students as a regular part of the curriculum. Over 900,000 youth have been trained in CPR through this lifesaving program to date.

Core partners supporting the program in Quebec and throughout Canada are companies in the research-based pharmaceutical industry: AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb Canada, Pfizer Canada and sanofi-aventis. They provide ACT’s sustaining funding and are committed to the Foundation’s national goal of promoting health and empowering Canadians to save lives.