December 2, 2008

Mount Boucherie Secondary Students Learn Lifesaving Techniques

KELOWNA, BC:  Only 15 percent of Canadians know how to administer cardio pulmonary resuscitation (CPR); the ACT Foundation and local high school students are helping to increase that percentage.  Mount Boucherie Secondary School (MBSS) became the fifth secondary school in School District No. 23 to receive CPR training through the ACT Foundation.  Corporate sponsors have facilitated the purchase of 245 mannequins, which have allowed 1,900 students in our District to complete their training. 

“Mount Boucherie Secondary School is known for having a wide range of relevant programs and this lifesaving training is one of them” says Principal Lisa McCullough.  She recognized the important role of Vice-principal Kathy Weninger and Physcial Education Department Head, Chris Carter, in delivering this valuable program.

Local emergency room physician Dr. Nick Balfour stopped by Monday’s training session to offer students his encouragement.  He also put the importance of this medical technique into perspective: 100 British Columbians survived last year directly as a result of an increased knowledge of CPR.  A change in hospital procedures and training of dispatchers has doubled the survival rate of heart attack victims just since 2006.  “If someone had a heart attack two years ago, they had a six percent chance of survival.  The new survival rate is 12 percent.  It doesn’t sound like a lot but that’s a 100 percent improvement.”

The Director of Public Education for the BC Ambulance Service, B.J. Chute, told students that their skills could help to save the lives of some of the approximately 35,000 cardiac arrest victims in Canada each year.  “CPR can revive vital signs until an ambulance arrives.  If we get a call and we know someone is there administering CPR, we know the patient’s survival rate is four times greater.”

Above, Principal Lisa McCullough with Grade 10 students, ACT Foundation representatives, corporate sponsors, local emergency room physician Dr. Balfour and members of the BC Ambulance Service.

Approved by the Superintendent and Chairperson December 2, 2008

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For comments, please contact:

Lisa McCullough, Principal, Mount Boucherie Secondary, (250) 712-7040

Moyra Baxter, Chairperson of the Board (250) 767-6153

Mike Roberts, Superintendent of Schools (250) 860-8888

For background information: please contact Lisa Harrison lharriso@sd23.bc.ca or 470-3284.