RBC Helps ACT Foundation Bring CPR and Defibrillator Training Program to Chilliwack School District Schools

Chilliwack, BC, February 20, 2015 –Today, 17 teachers from School District # 33 Chilliwack will be trained to empower students with lifesaving CPR and defibrillator skills, as well as heart health knowledge, through the award-winning ACT High School CPR and Defibrillator Training Program. This training, to be held atG. W. Graham Middle-Secondary School, will result in more than 650 students trained each year by their teachers to use these lifesaving skills. The Advanced Coronary Treatment (ACT) Foundation is working in partnership with British Columbia Emergency Health Services (BCEHS), British Columbia Ambulance Service (BCAS) and community partners to bring this program to Chilliwack.In School District # 33 Chilliwack, ACT is receiving funding from lead community partner RBC, as well as our national health partners – AstraZeneca Canada, Pfizer Canada and Sanofi Canada, to provide training mannequins, Automated External Defibrillator (AED) training units, curriculum materials and program set-up to Chilliwack Secondary School, G. W. Graham Middle-Secondary School and Vedder Middle School. Chilliwack Secondary School and G. W. Graham Middle-Secondary School are also receiving AEDs.“At RBC we believe the health and wellness of local communities is of vital importance,” said Doug Turner, RBC Regional Vice-President – East Fraser Valley and Langley Market. “We are proud to be long-time supporters of the ACT Foundation and are thrilled to be the community partners bringing CPR and AED training to School District # 33 Chilliwack Secondary Schools.”The ACT Foundation is the national charitable organization that is establishing CPR and defibrillator training programs in all Canadian high schools. To date, the ACT High School CPR Program has been established in 224 public standard secondary schools throughout British Columbia and over 325,000 students have already been empowered to save lives with CPR.“It’s a privilege to partner in this way with high schools and teachers, who already work so hard to prepare our children to meet life’s challenges and act as responsible citizens,” said John Helou, President, Pfizer Canada Inc. “The ACT program adds an irreplaceable element to the high school experience. For some students, this training might one day make the difference between tragedy and saving a life.”“We are thrilled with the support from our partners,” said Sandra Clarke, the ACT Foundation’s Executive Director. “With it, we can implement the CPR and AED program in Chilliwack School District Schools. These are lifesaving skills that students will be able to bring to their current and future families and communities.”With eight in 10 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occurring at home or in public places, empowering youth with CPR training as part of their high school education will help increase citizen CPR response rates over the long term. Moreover, 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.To date, the ACT Foundation has set up the ACT High School CPR Program in more than 1,700 high schools nation-wide, empowering more than 2.9 million youth to save lives. Program Numbers in School District # 33 Chilliwack The three schools are receiving:

• 26 CPR mannequins
• 12 AED training units;
• 12 AED training mannequins

Chilliwack Secondary School and G. W. Graham Middle-Secondary School are also receiving:

• 1 AED unit

The result of this initiative will be:

• 21 teachers trained as CPR and AED instructors for their students; and
• More than 650 students will learn CPR and AED skills each year.

About the ACT FoundationThe ACT Foundation is the national charitable organization that is establishing the CPR and AED program 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, AED training units, and AED units that schools need to set up the program. Secondary school teachers 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 health partners who are committed to bringing the program to British Columbia and to high schools across Canada are AstraZeneca Ca