The American Heart Association and the NFL team started the HeartBEAT initiative in 2023 to increase bystander CPR skills after Damar Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest during a game.
RT’s Three Key Takeaways:
- HeartBEAT Initiative Expansion – The American Heart Association and the Buffalo Bills are continuing their partnership to provide Hands-Only CPR and AED training to Western New York communities, aiming to double sudden cardiac arrest survival rates by 2030.
- Free CPR Education & Equipment – The initiative includes CPR training at various community events and youth sports organizations, with 200 training kits being distributed to ensure widespread access to life-saving skills.
- Growing CPR Readiness – Efforts like HeartBEAT have contributed to an increase in Americans’ confidence in performing CPR, with survey data showing a rise from 30% to 35% in CPR readiness between 2021 and 2023.
For the third year, the American Heart Association and the Buffalo Bills are working together to bring compression-only CPR (Hands-Only CPR) and automated external defibrillator (AED) training and equipment to community events, organizations and youth sports groups across Western New York.
Known in the community as the HeartBeat initiative, this work is adding more people to the Association’s Nation of Lifesavers movement, which intends to double sudden cardiac arrest survival rates by 2030.
Through the HeartBEAT program, CPR education will be free at the following events and locations:
| Buffalo Public Schools Summit | Saturday, June 7, 2025 11:00 am to 2:00 pm | All-High Stadium, 2885 Main St, Buffalo, NY 14214 |
| Buffalo Bills Training Camp | Summer 2025 | St. John Fisher University, Rochester, 3690 East Avenue, Rochester, NY 14618 |
| Buffalo CycleNation | Fall 2025 | Buffalo Bills Field House, 1 Bills Dr, Orchard Park, NY 14127 |
| HeartBEAT Game Day | Fall 2025 | Highmark Stadium, 1 Bills Dr, Orchard Park, NY 14127 |
Begun in 2023, the five-year, $1 million dollar commitment by the Buffalo Bills to educate thousands of Western New Yorkers on the correct rate and depth of compressions for Hands Only CPR and become a part of the Association’s Nation of Lifesavers. The American Heart Association launched the Nation of Lifesavers movement in 2023 following the sudden cardiac arrest of Buffalo Bills’ player Damar Hamlin during Monday Night Football™.
The Nation of Lifesavers and the collaboration with the NFL is the Association’s most recent demonstration of its commitment to CPR education with the goal to double survival rates of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest by 2030.1
“Knowing how to respond in a cardiac emergency when seconds matter is literally the difference between life and death. By bringing these lifesaving CPR demonstrations to the community, we are meeting people where they are,” said Megan Vargulick, Western New York executive director of the American Heart Association. “The HeartBEAT initiative and our collaboration with the Buffalo Bills are adding more lifesavers in Western New York.”
In addition to the hands-on education efforts, the American Heart Association and the Buffalo Bills will continue their shared focus on CPR education for youth sports coaches. Throughout the initiative, 200 CPR & First Aid in Youth Sports training kits will be placed in the Western New York community. These training kits are designed for youth coaches to ensure they and their community know the lifesaving skills of CPR, how to use an AED, and how to help during sports-related emergencies. Each kit can train approximately 300 people per year. In the first two years of the program, 62 kits were placed in the Western New York community. For information on how to request a kit for a youth sports organization, visit the American Heart Association’s HeartBeat website.
“The Bills remain dedicated to advancing CPR education throughout the Western New York community,” said Michelle Roberts, vice president of community impact of the Buffalo Bills. “Together with the American Heart Association we are proud to continue offering educational opportunities to empower our community with the lifesaving skills of Hands-Only CPR.”
Read more: Cleveland Browns Partner to Distribute AEDs to Northeast Ohio Schools
Efforts like the HeartBeat initiative are making a difference. More Americans than ever say they are now ready to perform CPR in emergencies, according to newly released survey data from the American Heart Association.2 Recent efforts by the Association to create a Nation of Lifesavers with partners like the NFL have boosted CPR readiness. The percentage of surveyed adults in the U.S. who say they now feel they have the confidence to perform CPR increased from 30% to 35% from 2021 to 2023.3
Today, more than 350,000 cardiac arrests occur outside of hospitals in the United States annually. Nearly 3 out of 4 those cardiac arrests happen in homes. Quick, simple and easy-to-learn, Hands-Only CPR has been shown to be as effective in the first few minutes as conventional CPR for cardiac arrest at home, at work or in public.4 It is as simple as calling 911 if you see a teen or adult suddenly collapse and then push hard and fast in the center of the chest.
References
- https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIR.0000000000001196
- 2023 HOCPR Insights survey, American Heart Association (available by request)
- https://newsroom.heart.org/news/impact-update-cpr-willingness-grows-in-the-u-s-need-to-act-remains#_ftn4
- https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIR.0000000000001052?utm_campaign=2023stat-update&utm_source=heart&utm_medium=link&utm_content=statshome
Image: Buffalo Bills Heartbeat Cardiac Awareness Program logo. © Buffalo Bills (NFL) via https://newsroom.heart.org/news/nfls-buffalo-bills-continue-cpr-education-kicking-off-year-3-of-the-heartbeat-initiative
