The MIKEY’s installed under the The Mikey’s Young at Heart School Defibrillator Program are available to hundreds of high school and continuing education students, their teachers and school staff. The life-saving potential is even greater when you consider that schools form the heart of our communities. MIKEYS will also benefit all of the individuals and neighbourhood groups who regularly attend meetings, play sports, vote at their local polling stations, and participate in other special events held on school property.

To date, over 250 MIKEYS have been placed in High Schools including the Toronto District School Board, Halton District School Board, Halton Catholic District School Board and Limestone District Schoolboard. More importantly, students have already been saved by a MIKEY because of this important program.

The Benefits Of The Mikey Young At Heart Program

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As students head back to school there is often a lot to occupy their time during the first few weeks of the semester. They’re catching up with friends, joining clubs, and beginning their studies. All of these activities are highly important while progressing through high school, but one that should be added is learning about how to save a life.

To help your child get back into learning mode, as well as learning about the proper procedures for saving a life, we recommend that they sign up to the Mikey Young At Heart App. Now is the perfect time to do so, as they won’t be overwhelmed with a course schedule, as well as the many other activities that occupy kids when they head back to school.

The app which was created to provide your child with an understanding of CPR procedures and how to use an AED, is taught through instructional videos that they can view at their own pace. Not only is the app easy to use, the hours accumulated on it also count towards their volunteer hours that they will need to earn during the semester.

The best part about the app is that you can access it anywhere, so whether your child is at home relaxing, or studying with friends; they can keep learning.

Don’t just take our word for how great the Mikey Young at Heart app is, ask our friend Kayley Baker, who this past year helped to save the life of an elderly man in downtown Toronto thanks to her training on the app.

I was walking in downtown Toronto on Labour Day Monday with my grandmother when we noticed people making a fuss. There was a man on the ground and he was blue in colour. Automatically I knew something was wrong!

My grandmother grabbed my backpack and I knelt down beside him to perform CPR. I got to just over 30 compressions and he started to make a wheezing noise. There were people standing around but nobody else knew how to properly perform CPR.

I knew CPR because I went through the Mikey Young At Heart App. Going through the videos and quizzes gave me the confidence to act immediately and without fear. I knew what to do and I knew if I did it, this man would have a better chance of survival.”

Learn more about Kayley’s story here.

Each year in Ontario, children and teens are among the 6,500 people who experience Sudden Cardiac Arrest. If administering CPR or an AED during an emergency like the one Kayley experienced, a person has a much higher chance of surviving. Sign up to the Mikey Young At Heart app today to learn how it can benefit your life and others.

Walk of Life: Heart Health Education

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Every year the Mikey Network helps to organize a team for the Walk Of Life. The annual event which you can do as a walk or a run is a wonderful way to spend your Saturday. There are tons of fun events that you can do with your family and all of the money that is raised by the Mikey Network’s team goes towards educational programs that advocate for heart health or placements of defibrillators to families or organizations.

Heart Health Education

As we lead up to the walk, we want to let those that have supported us see where their donations have gone. This week we’re talking about Heart Health Education and the Mikey Young At Heart app, which helps teach high school students how to perform CPR and use a defibrillator. The students can then use the time that they have spent learning these life-saving skills, towards their educational volunteer hours.

Although the app is primarily geared towards high school students, it’s available for everyone to use.

To inform students about heart health and the app, we’ll often send out members of our team to schools in the Greater Toronto area. They’ll perform demonstrations on how to use a defibrillator while talking about the benefits of the app. Below are shots of our team explaining how a defibrillator works, last year, at the Castlebrooke Secondary School.

If you would like to learn more about the Mikey Young at Heart app, please follow the link. If you would like us to come to your school to talk about heart health and the MYAH app, please contact us at info@mikeynetwork.com

Mikey Network Celebrates Family Day

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At the Mikey Network, we truly understand the value that family has, as it encompasses so much of the projects and programs that we do as an organization. One of them being the Mikey’s Kids program, which provides MIKEY’s (AED’s) to families that have children with life-threatening heart conditions.

Our experience working with these families is rewarding beyond measure, as providing a MIKEY offers a child protection in case of a sudden cardiac arrest, and offers the family peace of mind to know that their child is safe in case an incident were to occur.

If you’re interested in learning more about the Mikey’s Kid’s program, go to https://mikeyskids.org/. It has tools, resources, and stories of Mikey Families.

Our work doesn’t rely solely on just families with heart-related illnesses though, as there are 6,500 children and teens that experience SCA in Ontario every year.

Knowing that youth are particularly vulnerable when their hearts skip a beat is alarming, which is why we created the Mikey Young at Heart Program to help give peace of mind to families in the community as well as make our schools safer.

The MYAH program works in two parts. One area focuses on the placement of AED’s in schools all over Ontario, while the other part focuses on educating students on how to perform CPR and how to use an AED, through the MYAH app.

To date, 500 MIKEY AED’s have been placed in schools including the Toronto District School Board, Peel District School Board, Halton District School Board, Halton Catholic District School Board, and the Limestone District School Board. While the MYAH app has had 2,479 students signed up to date.

If you would like to share a special story about your family with us, please reach out to us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

 

 

Two Saved With Mikey Defibrillators

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We’ve been informed that 2 more people, an infant and a high school student, have been given a second chance at life because a MIKEY (defibrillator) was available when they needed it.

Greenwood SSOn January 8, 2015, a 19 year old student at Greenwood S.S., in Toronto, went into cardiac arrest.

Their MIKEY was used and a pulse was established, and he was brought to the hospital for further treatment. No further details are available at this time.

 

 

On January 10, 2015, one of our newest Mikey’s Kids families needed to use their portable AED to save their infant, Archer. Archer’s parents happen to be paramedics, and his dad Sean, shared this on Twitter:

The MIKEY at Greenwood S.S. was placed through our Mikey Young At Heart School Defibrillator Program, and Archer’s MIKEY was given to them through our Mikey’s Kids program.

We are so grateful that there was a MIKEY available for Archer and at Greenwood S.S., and most importantly, that there were people prepared to use them.

There are now 23 people that been given a second chance at life because a MIKEY was available when they needed it!

CPR Training Day at Cardinal Leger SS

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Today The Mikey Network was honoured to participate in CPR Training Day at Cardinal Leger SS, in Brampton, ON. Every year, the students at Cardinal Leger receive CPR training from Peel Regional Paramedic Service (PRPS). We think that’s an amazing initiative and when we were invited to participate in this year’s program we jumped at the chance.

We’re already huge fans of the Peel Regional Paramedic Service from working with them on our Mikey Young At Heart Peel program. Brad Bowie and his team from PRPS, along with Principal Lee-Ann O’Leary, and Lorna Connoy, and their team from Cardinal Leger SS, did an amazing job making the training fun and educational for the students! Breakfast Television was there too so the message of Hands Only CPR and the importance of having MIKEYs (AEDs) available in a cardiac emergency, got spread far and wide. Not a bad morning!

The thought of of hundreds of students with CPR training, out in their community prepared to act in a cardiac emergency, just warms our hearts.

 

CPR training

Cardinal Leger SS students receiving CPR Training as the school band plays “Stayin’ Alive”

 

The Mikey Network on Breakfast Television

Mikey Network President Eva Szypulska, talks with Kevin Frankish, from Breakfast Television

Even “Louie the Lancer” got CPR training today

Even “Louie the Lancer” got CPR training today

CPR Training

Principal Lee-Ann O’Leary reads a letter from Premier Kathleen Wynn

Premier Kathleen Wynne's letter commending Cardinal Leger's Annual CPR Day

Premier Kathleen Wynne’s letter commending Cardinal Leger’s Annual CPR Day