Sudbury·Audio

Free CPR training workshops in Sudbury: no more mouth-to-mouth

They say all you need are two hands to save a life. The City of Greater Sudbury is training people to do just that by learning bystander CPR.
Jennifer Amyotte, commander of community para-medicine for Greater Sudbury's Paramedic Services, wants more people to learn hands-only CPR. (CBC)

They say all you need are two hands to save a life. 

The City of Greater Sudbury is training people to do just that by learning bystander CPR. 

Jennifer Amyotte is Commander of Community Health and Professional Standards for Sudbury's Paramedic Services. She says immediate CPR is crucial to certain survival rates.

"The Association of Emergency College Physicians determined that if bystander CPR was done in a timely fashion, that we could increase sudden cardiac arrest survival by two to three times", she said. 

Despite that, Amyotte said people seem to be put-off by the prospect of mouth-to-mouth, and paramedics are seeing fewer instances of CPR being done at cardiac arrest calls. 

Jennifer Amyotte was in studio Tuesday morning to speak with CBC Sudbury Morning North radio show host Markus Schwabe. 

The city of Greater Sudbury is hosting a series of free CPR training workshops. Jennifer Amyotte is commander of community paramedicine and professional stands for Greater Sudbury. She dropped by the the studio to tell us more and give us a demonstration.

Free CPR training sessions are happening in Garson, Dowling, Hanmer, then October 6 in Azilda. For more information and to sign up, contact the Heart and Stroke Foundation at 705-673-2228.