Sudden cardiac arrest (when the heart stops beating) can happen to anyone at any time. Many victims appear healthy and have no known heart disease or other risk factors.

Schools are the hearts of our community, and preparing students to help with a sudden cardiac arrest event could save the life of a child, parent, or teacher. We wish to create a generation of lifesavers by putting CPR and AED skills in the hands of all students and provide schools with a flexible framework to prepare for an emergency.

We consider the ability to recognize that a person may be suffering sudden cardiac arrest and to provide CPR and use an AED to be an essential life skill for all citizens.

Who we are: a grassroots organization called CARE – Cardiac Arrest Response and Education (https://c-scan.org/about-our-work/care/ @CARE4Hearts), who is spearheaded by survivors from sudden cardiac arrest, parents of children who suffered a sudden cardiac arrest, families of those who died from a sudden cardiac arrest, paramedic associations from Toronto, Peel, York, Halton and County Simcoe, scientists and clinicians as well as not for profits like the Canadian SADS Foundation, the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Cardiac Arrhythmia Network of Canada.

What are our goals?

To promote and ensure practical hands on CPR and AED training for all students (elementary and secondary) – this includes awareness of the warning signs of sudden cardiac arrest, how to perform CPR and use an AED. To achieve this, we believe this training should be mandatory through policy change and delivered once per year.

We also would like all schools to have an AED and persons in the school know how to use it.