Quebec teacher saves stranger’s life
Roberge has been teaching the ACT High School CPR Program for about three years, always considering it to be some of the most important knowledge he would pass on to his students.
Shortly after classes had ended one afternoon, Roberge looked across the schoolyard and noticed something suspicious: the buses hadn’t left on schedule.
When he reached the parking lot, he realized what had happened: a woman was unconscious on the ground, and Roberge was the only one who knew what to do while waiting for the paramedics to arrive.
“I don’t really remember anything from that day,” said Odette. “I just know that I was riding my bike, on my way home from work, and I fell.”
Roberge did not hesitate.
“I went into my ABC’s right away,” he said, speaking to his CPR training, which refers to airway, breathing and circulation.
After several rounds of compressions and artificial respiration, Roberge said she coughed, stirred and “came back to life.”
“She seemed a little disoriented,” said Roberge. “But it was extraordinary to see the CPR work.”
Odette is thankful to the people on scene who responded in the emergency, including the bus driver who called 911 – as well as all of the doctors and nurses who took care of her at the hospital.
She is also grateful to Roberge, who was trained to respond.
“A big thank you to Roberge who performed CPR on me,” Odette said. “He played a huge part in saving my life.
Both Odette and Roberge said all students should learn the ACT High School CPR Program.
“In life, you cannot wait until an emergency happens to learn how to respond,” he said. “You must always be prepared.”
“This training is very important for students,” said Odette. “It saves lives.”
The ACT High School CPR Program was made possible in École Arc-en-Ciel in Trois-Pistoles thanks to the generous support of ACT’s Quebec Partners: J.W. McConnell Family Foundation, McKesson Canada the Quebec Ministry of Health and Social Services, the Quebec Ministry of Education, Recreation and Sports and Sun Life Financial and Scotiabank. Mannequins and curriculum resources were donated to the school and the teachers were trained as CPR instructors for their students.
Also responsible are ACT’s core partners, 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 Quebec program and the national goal of promoting health and empowering Canadians to save lives.
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. More than 900,000 youth have been trained in CPR through this lifesaving program to date.