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The rate of cardiac arrests in Calgary fell suddenly and steeply following the introduction of public smoking bans a decade ago, provincial health-care data reveals.

Emergency department visits due to heart attacks in Calgary went from 154.8 per 100,000 people in 2006 to 79 in 2007 — a 49 per cent decline in the span of a year.

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That number then fell further to 44.4 by 2015, for a total decrease of 71 per cent from nine years earlier.

On Jan. 1, 2007, a prohibition on smoking in public places went into effect in the city, followed by a similar provincewide measure the following year.

In Calgary, the number of heart attacks per 100,000 people slipped from 222.3 in 2006 to 198.6 the following year, dropping to 142.6 in 2015 for an eventual retreat of 36 per cent.

In a statement, Alberta Health and Wellness noted the declines are more pronounced in Calgary than provincewide, where emergency room visits fell by 30 per cent from 2007 to 2015.