Every minute counts: IWK Health Centre teaches the importance of CPR awareness

Staff at the IWK demonstrate the importance of knowing CPR in an emergency.

February is Heart Month, an initiative aimed at raising awareness about our heart health.

The IWK Health Centre in Halifax holds an annual CPR awareness event to teach people who may not have had any training in the past.

When someone is in cardiac arrest, registered nurse Kristy Matheson says every minute counts.

“The more information that we have out there in the community, the more people available to help save lives,” said Matheson.

Without CPR, Stefania Galante says her daughter would not be here today.

“Sofia was in school during gym class. She collapsed and had a cardiac arrest and we were so lucky that her vice-principal was there and saved her life using CPR,” said Galamte.

“I think she administered CPR for nine minutes until medics came and used an AED (automated external defibrillator) on her.”

Dr. Santokh Dhillon, a cardiologist and electrophysiologist at the IWK, says cardiac arrest can happen to anyone, anywhere, any time.

“We need our community or people to get trained in CPR,” said Dhillon.

“Children, if they are trained early on, they keep this life-saving skill for a long time. It’s like sports skills, when they are trained young, they keep that skill forever.”

Matheson recommends watching The Heart and Stroke Foundation’s videos that review CPR, compressions and how to use an AED, on YouTube.