Iqaluit (Apr 14/03) - Iqaluit Accidents don't happen in hospitals -- they happen on the streets, at school and at home, and it is important to be ready for them.

Nastania Mullin takes a quick lesson in CPR as part of a demonstration to announce a new CPR training program at Inuksuk high school. - Chris Puglia/NNSL photo

That was the message being sent by Sandra Clarke, executive director of the ACT Foundation, an organization bringing CRP and first aid training to students across Canada.

Act is a not-for-profit organization focused on generating awareness on pre-hospital emergencies.

Since its founding in 1985 it has concentrated on promoting CPR and first aid training.

Currently its primary objective is to get mandatory CPR training into high schools across the nation.

That mission brought Clarke to Iqaluit from Ottawa last Thursday to announce the addition of CPR training to the curriculum at Inuksuk high school.

The program will be taught to 100 Grade 10 students each year.

"Everyone who graduates is going to be trained in what to do in an emergency," said Clarke.

Those students will also join 500,000 of their peers from 500 schools nationwide in being some of the few Canadians with the life-saving knowledge.

Right now less then one in 10 Canadians know how to perform CPR.

"We're talking about saving lives and you're going to be a part of it," Education Minister Manitok Thompson told the students. She attended the ceremony to extend the territory's support to the program.

Also on hand was Iqaluit Mayor John Matthews and Dr. Margaret Muirhead of Baffin Regional Hospital.

Grade 10 student Nastania Mullin is one of the students who will be taking the training.

"I think that it's really excellent," he said.

"Now we get to know how to save people."

Mullin, who has never trained in CPR or first aid, was one of six students who took a five-minute crash course in CPR as a demonstration during the assembly.

"I've seen it on TV, but I didn't know if that's how you did it or not," he said.

Romeyn Stevenson, is the land program co-ordinator at the school.

In that capacity he has first aid training.

Two weeks ago he was trained how to instruct CPR to high school students.

"It's a whole different thing to teach it. It's a whole different world," he said.

The teacher training took two full days to complete.

The program was made possible with help from Ayaya Marketing and Communications, First Air, the Frobisher Inn, St. John Ambulance and the Tahera Corporation.

Stevenson said it is an excellent addition to school based training.

"I think first aid is really important. It's been missing from the curriculum and it's great to see it get into the curriculum," he said.