Remember those yearly gym classes in school where you'd learn CPR, taking turns with your friends administering it to a rubber torso while your sweaty gym teacher looked on?
Or maybe you learned it poolside as part of a swim class, practicing on your classmates and making sure to remember every step to earn your lifeguard badge?
Show of hands: do you still remember how to do it?
If you want a refresher, or never learned before, now is the time. The Heart and Stroke Foundation is offering the opportunity later this month as part of a huge Hallowe'en party, and they've got an amazing campaign video, directed by Canadian horror master Vincenzo Natali ('Splice,' 'Ginger Snaps').
The goal is to show younger people how simple CPR is to learn and how it could save a life.
The video - '#TheUndeading' - features a woman (played by Michelle Nolden) running through a barren urban metropolis, unable to escape the wrath of the zombies. Trapped in an alley, she collapses from a heart attack, and the zombies come to her rescue.
According to Marketing Magazine, Natali and the production partners (ad firm Cartilage, with Alter Ego doing the special effects) all worked for free on the film. What could have cost more than $1 million was produced for about a tenth of that.
The Heart and Stroke Foundation always seem to have a unique way of making their message fun and accessible. From their 'Jump Rope for Heart' events to their multi-million-dollar lotteries, they make sure their campaign stays at the forefront while engaging people in exciting events.
This time, Ontario's Heart and Stroke branch is teaming up with the Toronto Zombie Walk to help spread the word about CPR training sessions happening all over the province for the next two months. The campaign started on Thursday, with a lunchtime flash mob of zombies in Toronto's Dundas Square.
But the main event is on Thursday, October 25, at the massive Hallowe'en Haunt party at Canada's Wonderland. For a 60% discounted admission price, people can not only enjoy the park, but also participate in an attempt to break the world record for the biggest CPR training session.
So far, as of this writing, fewer than 3000 people have registered, but they're going to need more than double that to break the current record held by Singapore, which attracted nearly 8000 people.
The Foundation's ambitions are high: the Toronto Star reports they're anticipating 10,000 people, and they'll have 350 certified trainers at the ready.
The campaign is designed to educate people not to hesitate when they see someone going into cardiac arrest. As the video reminds us, you won't do the person any harm, and you might save their life. Just by knowing CPR, you can make someone 'undead' by calling 911 and administering two pumps to the chest every second.
The goal is to raise the Ontario survival rate, which currently stands at just 5 to 6 per cent for heart attacks that occur outside of a hospital. (By comparison, Seattle's survival rate is 16 per cent.)
So take our advice to heart, and sign up for The Undeading today.
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