More than 4,000 students will be empowered by their teachers with essential lifesaving skills every year.

The schools will receive equipment including AED training units and mannequins, and the means to set up a program that will see all students graduate with the skills and knowledge to save lives. 

Without immediate help, a victim of sudden cardiac arrest can suffer brain damage within three minutes. After 12 minutes, survival is unlikely. 

When cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and automated external defibrillators (AEDs) are used together in the first few minutes during a sudden cardiac arrest, survival rates can increase by up to 75%, according to the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

Since 2005, BCEHS has been working with the ACT Foundation to bring CPR and defibrillator education to secondary schools throughout the province. 

The ACT Foundation is the national charitable organization that is dedicated to ensuring Canadian high school students graduate with life-saving skills. The program is built on ACT’s community-based model of partnerships and support. ACT raises funds for mannequins and resources, and guides schools in program set-up. BCEHS staff members volunteer their time and expertise to help teach teachers how to most effectively train their students in CPR and defibrillator usage.

To date, the ACT High School CPR Program has been established in 242 public standard secondary schools throughout B.C. and more than 500,000 students have already been empowered to save lives with CPR. 

You can make a difference too. If you’re trained in CPR, just download the BCEHS PulsePoint Respond App for alerts, and help victims of sudden cardiac arrest.