Coroner's Recommendations Taken to Heart by the ACT Foundation

QUEBEC, QUEBEC--(Marketwire - June 29, 2011) - One year ago today, Coroner Andrée Kronström released a report recommending the inclusion of CPR courses, including AED training in secondary schools across Quebec. Today, the ACT Foundation announces it has set up a CPR training program in over 320 Quebec schools and this year will see the addition of AED training to the program.

"Besides developing rescue and CPR skills amongst the educational community, the ACT Foundation contributes to an increased presence of AEDs in public places," says coroner Kronström. "The Bureau du coroner salutes these initiatives which are in agreement with the coroner's Kronström's recommendations as well as the organization's fundamental mission to have a better protection of human life."

In Quebec, over 50,000 students are now trained in CPR every year by their high schools teachers. The ACT Foundation is working in partnership with the Quebec Government, including the Ministry of Education, Recreation and Sports and the Ministry of Health and Social Services to establish the CPR program in all high schools.

The ACT High School Program is built on ACT's award-winning community-based model of partnership and support. ACT raises funds for mannequins and teacher training for all high schools and guides schools in program set-up. High school teachers teach their students CPR as a regular part of the curriculum so that students graduate empowered with the skills and knowledge to save lives.

"We know that citizen CPR saves lives," says ACT Foundation Executive Director Sandra Clarke, "We're creating a generation of lifesavers. For every student that is trained, there is the possibility of another life being saved. "

This fall will see the ACT Foundation enhance the CPR program with AED training for 70 high schools – ACT's first AED program in the province.

ACT's goal is to ensure all Quebec high schools have an in-house CPR and AED training program free for students and that high schools have an AED for in-school emergencies.

To find out which high schools have the program and to read about youth rescues, go to www.actfoundation.ca.

About the ACT Foundation

The ACT Foundation is a national charitable organization dedicated to establishing CPR as a mandatory program in every Canadian high school. ACT's health partners who are committed to the program in Quebec and across Canada include AstraZeneca Canada, Bristol-Myers Squibb Canada, Pfizer Canada and sanofi-aventis. The Foundation has already established the CPR program in 80% of Quebec public high schools and in over 1,500 high schools across Canada. More than 1.8 million youth across Canada have been trained in CPR to date. ACT is now adding the AED program to the school CPR initiative.