The Heart and Stroke Foundation, in partnership with Guelph Wellington Emergency Medical Services, K&L Health Care Consultants Inc. and Centre Wellington, are making it easy for township residents to become CPR Level-A and AED certified for free.
Free public CPR Level-A & AED (automated external defibrilator) certified training will take place on Nov. 26 from 8:30am to noon at the Centre Wellington Sportsplex at 550 Belsyde Avenue East, in Fergus.
To register, call 519-837-4858 or email wdgcpr@gmail.com.
Participants will receive a free Heart and Stroke Foundation CPR Anytime Family and Friends kit (valued at $40). Everyone who completes the course will receive a Heart Saver certificate.
According to the Heart and Stroke Foundation, approximately 45,000 sudden cardiac arrests occur each year. In Ontario alone, approximately 7,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur annually.
For every minute that passes without help, a person’s chance of surviving a cardiac arrest drops by 7% to 10%. Learning CPR is easy and inexpensive and it could mean saving the life of a friend or family member. When defibrillation is applied with CPR in the first few minutes, it can dramatically improve a cardiac arrest victim’s chance of survival by up to 75%.
“The Heart and Stroke Foundation urges all Canadians to learn CPR. The more people trained, the greater the chance of keeping a person who is experiencing cardiac arrest alive until an ambulance arrives,” said Sam AbiSaab, community mission specialist for the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario. “You don’t need to be a doctor to help save a life.”
Acting chief of Guelph Wellington EMS Stephen Dewar said, “We hope as many people as possible can attend this free CPR training course. Statistics indicate, and I know from my own experience on the job, that CPR and AEDs can make the difference between life and death. The more people in our community with these life-saving skills, the more lives may be saved.”
The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada sets the Canadian guidelines for CPR, defibrillation and other aspects of emergency cardiovascular care in Canada.
