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The American Heart Association and the Vermont Department of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) have launched the HEARTsafe Program, a community-based effort designed to improve the odds of survival for people suffering sudden cardiac arrest events. Residents and visitors will know they have entered a...

Sigh. This picture sums up how I felt yesterday. This legislative session, which started out with much promise, may very well end with the swipe of the Governor’s veto pen. The Governor has vetoed a bill that would have allowed Maine youth, our next generation of heroes, to learn Hands Only...

On June 6, 2013, the American Heart Association hosted a Lobby Day/Legislative Reception at the New Jersey State House to bring attention to CPR and AED issues during CPR and AED Awareness Week. Advocates who attended spoke to a number of legislators about Hands Only CPR and the American Heart Association's...

As the American Heart Association continues to prioritize CPR training, especially for New York's high school students, we have come across some of the most amazing advocates who are working tirelessly to support our policy work. But heroes come from every walk of life and anyone who is focused on...

We need your help. The bill to screen babies for heart defects needs to be placed on a committee agenda. With two simple calls, you can help all babies have a healthy start. This simple test called pulse ox, consists of sensors placed on a baby’s hand and foot to check low blood oxygen levels ...

Governor Cuomo will outline his vision for the coming year in his State of the State address tomorrow. The American Heart Association is fighting for chronic disease prevention and CPR training. What issues are you hoping to hear about from the Governor?

We have worked together to pass legislation in 2012 that ultimately leads to the gift of a more healthy life for Connecticut residents. Because of your support all of Connecticut’s newborns will be tested for Critical Congenital Heart Disease, our elementary school students will have 20 minutes...

Right now, nearly 27% of Vermont kids are overweight. Providing them with more options for physical acticity and limiting their consumption of sugary drinks can help them to be healthier. Let your legislators know that you want them to make fighting obesity a priority to help our kids and keep health...

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the advocates like you who have made your voices heard this year on legislation that will help improve preparedness and response to sudden cardiac arrest in New Jersey. You actions have helped to make a difference in New Jersey. Due in part to your action...

Sudden Cardiac Arrest is a leading cause of death in the United States. More than 1,000 Rhode Islanders – mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters – will lose their lives to sudden cardiac arrest this year. Most people who experience cardiac arrest at home, work or in a...

October is Sudden Cardiac Arrest Awareness (SCA) Month, which is the perfect time to raise awareness for SCA and the importance of people becoming more familiar with the signs and symptoms of SCA. With more than 200,000 students who participate in extracurricular sports in Massachusetts, we have an...

Hi NYers...AHA is working hard to push for a statewide ban on trans fat in restaurants (yup, this dangerous fat is still there); the CPR in Schools bill (shouldn't every school teach this skill); newborn screenings for heart defects; and funding for tobacco and heart disease and stroke programs ...

Boston Celtics player, Jeff Green, took time to share his personal heart connection with a group of kids who have their own heart stories. The kids also filmed a PSA with Jeff about the importance of learning CPR in School, which will help further our policy priority of CPR as a Graduation Requirement...

If there was a simple test to detect congenital heart defects, would you want your baby screened? Did you know pulse ox screenings can identify some newborns with congenital heart defects? Yet, this simple, low-cost test isn't required in NYS. With your help, we can change that. Click here to let...

Matt Keene New Hampshire In October of 2006, I was a high school athlete on the football field when I collapsed and stopped breathing, a victim of sudden cardiac arrest at the age of 17.　 Thanks to the staff at Kimball Union Academy who used their CPR training and their automated external defibrillator...

Judy Richards Massachusetts Judy’s daughter Kayla was a healthy and active 22-year-old. She had just entered the Radiographic Technology Program at Massasoit Community College, and was working at Jordan hospital in the diagnostic imaging program. A healthy young girl, she worked out often at...

Amy Wolfe Massachusetts Amy Wolfe is a stay at home mother of 3 wonderful children; Allison, Andrew, and Ryan. Her oldest child, Allison, was born in 1999 with a very severe form of heart disease called Tetralogy of Fallot. In addition to her diagnosis of TOF, she was also found to have a snaking...

Bert and Brenda Carey Massachusetts Many spouses watch television together. Many longtime married couples travel or go to the theater or play golf or take the grandkids swimming. Brenda and Bert Carey have a different kind of special bond. How many wives and husbands can say they went through quadruple...

Debra and Christopher Bader Massachusetts Debra Bader was taking a walk in the woods with her 53-year-old husband Chris one morning when suddenly he collapsed. At first she thought the situation was hopeless. "I looked at him and said, 'He's dead,' because he wasn't moving or...

John and Luann Ellsessar Massachusetts Michael wore No.99 on his football jersey, but his parents would say that he was No. 1 in their hearts. Michael loved all sports, playing football in the fall, track and field in the spring, but his passion was hockey in the winter. He was a great student and...

Joe and Olivia Quigley Massachusetts More than two-dozen first-graders were squealing and bouncing balls on a mid-February morning in the gym at a school in Boston when 6-year-old Olivia suddenly collapsed. No one saw it coming. The little girl with the strawberry blonde hair and no front teeth had...

Michelle Johnston Shelburne, Vermont I'm alive because my husband knew CPR. Shelburne resident, and cardiac arrest survivor Michelle Johnston suffered sudden cardiac arrest in October 2009 and was saved by her husband. But that is not the end of her story. As an advocate in Vermont Michelle worked...

Tommy Watson Williston,Vermont Fourteen year old Tommy Watson is making a difference. He’s already trained more than 500 people in Hands-only CPR, including the Governor and Lt. Governor. And he worked hand in hand with the American Heart Association, testifying before house and senate committees...

Bill Hathaway Bennington, Vermont Bill Hathaway is the Director of Bennington Rescue. He’s a passionate advocate on stroke and Chain of Survival issues, serves on the AHA’s advocacy committee in Vermont and played an instrumental role in the passage of CPR in schools legislation last session...

Melinda Murray New York On October 5, 2009, my only child, Dominic Murray, a seemingly healthy 17 year-old, collapsed on the basketball court at Farmingdale State College during a pick-up game. After attempting a lay-up he took three steps and collapsed on the court. I was told that within minutes...