Vale and ACT strengthening the health of Greater Sudbury with donation of more than 150 CPR mannequins

SUDBURY, ON – 10:00 a.m. – Following the release of the new CPR guidelines last week, Vale in partnership with the Advanced Coronary Treatment (ACT) Foundation, is donating more than 150 mannequins to local high schools today. To celebrate this initiative, high school students will perform CPR techniques and show how to use a defibrillator in a dynamic demonstration. The media event will be held at the Lasalle Secondary School, 1545 Kennedy Street Sudbury, at 10:00 a.m.

“These mannequins are excellent tools that will help students learn vital life saving techniques,” said Angie Robson, Manager of Corporate and Aboriginal Affairs for Vale’s Ontario Operations. “The ACT Foundation provides outstanding CPR and defibrillator training programs and Vale is proud to support such an important initiative that enhances health and safety in our community.”

Thanks to this key enhancement, more than 3,000 students from the Conseil scolaire catholique du Nouvel-Ontario, Conseil scolaire public du Grand Nord de l’Ontario, Rainbow District School Board and the Sudbury Catholic District School Board are empowered to save lives every year by their teachers through the ACT High School CPR and Defibrillator Training Program.

“What a terrific program. Teaching students how to save a life is a skill they can carry for a lifetime,” said Glenn Thibeault, MPP for Sudbury. “I want to thank Vale for donating these new mannequins for schools. I also want to thank the ACT Foundation, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Sanofi, The Ontario Trillium Foundation, and Hydro One for their generous support. The Ontario government is proud to be part of such a worth-while initiative.”

The ACT Foundation is the national charitable organization that is establishing CPR and defibrillator training programs in high schools throughout Canada. The program is built on ACT’s award-winning community-based model of partnerships and support. Thanks to the support of ACT’s community partners with Vale as lead community partner, provincial partners Government of Ontario, the Ontario Trillium Foundation and Hydro One, and health partners AstraZeneca Canada, Pfizer Canada, Sanofi Canada, the CPR and Defibrillator Training program was set up in all Sudbury High Schools in 2013.

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.

“We are thrilled with this new support from Vale,” said Sandra Clarke, the ACT Foundation’s Executive Director. “With it, we can strengthen the program in the Sudbury high schools, ensuring all students graduate with the skills to save a life.”

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.

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 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 and AED training units that schools need to set up the program. High 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 partners who are committed to bringing the program to Ontario are the Government of Ontario, the Ontario Trillium Foundation and Hydro One, and our national health partners, AstraZeneca Canada, Pfizer Canada and Sanofi Canada.

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For further information, please contact:

Nives Jahibasic
Communications Coordinator
ACT Foundation
comms@actfoundation.ca
Tel: 613-729-3455
Toll: 800-465-9111
www.actfoundation.ca
www.youtube.com/theactfoundation

Angie Robson
Manager, Aboriginal and Corporate Affairs
Vale Canada Ltd., Ontario Operations
705-682-5202
angie.robson@vale.com