About the Invention

Meet Actar 911. Conceived by Dianne and her partner, Richard Brault, in 1989, this innovative teaching aid is used to teach CPR (short for Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation). CPR is a life saving procedure that is performed on people suffering from cardiac arrest (heart attacks, drowning, etc.). In the U.S. alone, 1,000 people a day die of a heart attack.

Actar 911 is a lightweight mannequin comprised of a head and chest only. Using Actar 911, people learning CPR can experience how it feels to press on someone's chest and blow into their lungs. This life-like torso responds to pressure by deflating slightly and expanding when air is blown in the "mouth" and "lungs."

Before Actar 911, CPR training was performed on mannequins that were life-sized, life-like, heavy and very expensive. Because of the cost, students often wasted class time waiting to share one mannequin. Enter Actar 911, which is innovative, very affordable, well-designed and suitable for wet-conditions such as lifeguard training. Since a lot of instructors are women, the Actar 911 was designed to be light and easily transportable. Ten can fit in a duffel bag!

Like humans, Actar 911 spawned an offspring in 1992, the Actar 911 Infant, which Dianne and her partner felt was a necessary addition to the family since the procedure for infant CPR is performed with the child in arms. This model is life-size and includes an entire small body.

Dianne is inspired by identifiable needs and a passion for solving problems. The challenges ranged from meeting the design criteria (light, affordable, etc.) to finding distributors. Actar 911 has been on the market since 1990 and a recently launched new version designed by Dianne and Richard teaches new methods of CPR. Actar 911 and the Actar Infant are used as teaching aids by many organizations like the Red Cross, St John Ambulance, the military and corporations. They are sold throughout the world, with the U.S. as the largest market.

About the Inventor

"How will it be used? What's it for?" are questions Dianne and her partner and husband, Richard Brault, often ask when they are at the beginning stages of product design. Asking questions opens up a lot of possibilities. Entrepreneurial, both enjoy getting deeply involved in product design. Both have a drive to create innovative products that improve upon existing models.

Born in Sudbury, Dianne Croteau graduated from the Industrial Design Department of Ottawa's Carleton University. She and Richard started their company, Studio Innova in 1984. Like all start-ups, the beginning was tough and, while developing Actar 911, they made ends meet by working on industrial and graphic design projects.

Dianne's career highlight was developing the Actar 911, which helped to change industry standards. When asked about women industrial designers, she talks about the scope of their vision and their holistic approach. Her own personal interest is in helping people, hence her most recent project which is an ergonomic chair for children with mild to moderate cerebral palsy. The chair is being developed in partnership with Dr. Denise Reid from the University of Toronto's Faculty of Medicine. Because of Actar 911, Dianne and Richard's company Studio Innova won a Canada Award for Business Excellence in 1991 and the Financial Post Design Effectiveness Award in 1992