Free CPR training being offered to increase number of bystanders who could save lives

A file photo of CPR training. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari, File) (HARAZ N. GHANBARI/The Associated Press)

An Alberta company is spreading awareness of the importance of knowing CPR and providing free training.

Only one in 10 people who experience cardiac arrest outside a hospital survive, according to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada.

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Heart disease affects about 2.4 million Canadian adults and 60,000 people go into cardiac arrest outside a hospital in Canada each year.

On average, it can take six minutes or more for emergency personnel to arrive when someone suffers a cardiac episode. All the while, the brain and vital organs are deprived of blood and oxygen.

If someone is able to start performing CPR on a person experiencing cardiac arrest, their survivability increases.

Only around 40 per cent of people get this help before professionals arrive and only 18 per cent of Canadians have been CPR certified at some point, according to First Aid Training Edmonton, a CPR training company.

“For most people, the desire to get certified comes as the result of a previous crisis – they were

put in a situation they were not prepared for, and they don’t want that to happen again," said Ben Marasco, who founded First Aid Training Calgary in 2013, in a news release.

“We want everyone to feel confident in their ability to save a life.”

In order to increase the amount of bystanders who are able to help save lives, the First Aid Training Edmonton and Calgary chapters are giving away $25,000 in free training to Albertans.

Since 2023, the First Aid Training has provided more than $35,000 in training in Edmonton and Calgary.

“Instructors who hosted the 2024 recipients shared how impactful and affirming the experience was, as stories of real-life impact were exchanged, showing just how vital these skills are in the moments that count,” the organization said.

Training is also available for an automated external defibrillator (AED), which can deliver an electric shock to restore a normal heart rhythm to someone in cardiac arrest.

“Since last year, we’ve expanded our operations into Edmonton and added female CPR mannequins – which are shockingly and disappointingly very rare,” Marasco said.

“People who present as women are 14 per cent less likely to receive bystander CPR and defibrillation than people who present as men.”

Starting Tuesday at 10 a.m. in Edmonton and Calgary, the registration fee for the first 1,800 hours of training booked for CPR and AED training will be waived.

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