More residents need CPR training Continued from page 4 5 · Friday, March 19, 2010 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.oakvillebeaver.com cardiac care centre at Mississauga's Trillium Health Centre, bypassing local hospitals. At Trillium, interventional cardiologists insert a balloon catheter and stent to open up the patient's blocked artery, a procedure commonly called an angioplasty and which is deemed more effective than clot busting medications. Halton's paramedics transported 41 STEMI patients to Trillium in the first year of the new protocol. Halton is hoping to finalize soon an agreement for its paramedics to run the same protocol for Burlington's STEMI patients, who would be transported to the cardiac care centre at Hamilton General Hospital. Given the success of the STEMI program and the benefits of rapid treatment by paramedics of myocardial infarction, Halton staff are working with staff in other regions and local hospitals to increase public awareness of the importance of calling 911 when a person is experiencing chest pain or other heart attack symptoms. Cheskes is also recommending more residents receive cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training. The survival rate of cardiac arrest is four times greater if a bystander performs CPR, he explained to the health committee. While Cheskes said the increasing prevalence of public access defibrillators at public facilities was welcome, he said CPR training is especially important due to the fact 85 per cent of cardiac arrests take place in the home. Halton Region's emergency medical services division offers courses in both CPR and defibrillator training for workplaces or groups. The Region's website, www.halton.ca/health also provides links to other course providers such as the Canadian Red Cross and St. John Ambulance. OAKVILLE UNITED TAXI own Servic Out-of-T e & ort p Air Inside Opinion............................................6 Living.............................................20 Artscene.........................................24 Worship..........................................29 Sports.............................................30 Real Estate.....................................34 Classified........................................36 Full Delivery: The Bay, Food Basics, Toys R Us, Wal-Mart,Price Chopper Home Outfitters, Future Shop, Best Buy Canada Partial Delivery: Ashley Furniture, M&M Meats, Metro Canada, Curry's, Pharma Save, Food Basics, Sobeys, Mississauga Booster, Carriers Wanted, Sears, Michael Angelo's, Fortinos, Bouclair, Zellers, Staples Business, No Frills, LA-Z-Boy, Wal-Mart, Superstore, Canadian Tire · · · · · · · · · · · · GO GREEN! Mastering the art of fire. 3600 Laird Rd., Units 12 & 13 Mississauga, ON Hours: Mon.-Fri. 9-5, Sat. 10-4, Sun. 12-4 905.338.0044 Ê Join our growing team, call 905-338-6106 CALL US 24 HOUR · 7 DAYS A WEEK www.ontariohearth.com 905.569.2404 Ê THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT