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In October, the U.S. recognizes Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) Awareness Month in order to raise awareness about SCA, its signs and symptoms. This month the National Football League (NFL) and Parent Heart Watch, the only national organization dedicated to protecting youth from SCA, have launched an initiative to make life-saving training more accessible. The AEDs for Youth program intends to equip K-12 schools and youth sports organizations with automated external defibrillators (AEDs) and device management, empowering them to prepare for emergencies and create safer environments for children and young people.
According to the American Heart Association (AHA), cardiac arrest is a public health crisis with more than 356,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests annually – 90% of which are fatal. Though it’s not a common occurrence, 2 in 50 U.S. high schools can expect a SCA event each year and an estimated 2,000 children will die from cardiac arrest each year. Additionally, roughly 23,000 seemingly healthy young people under 18 die from SCA.
These tragic and often preventable deaths highlight the urgent need for greater awareness and access to life-saving tools like AEDs and CPR training. Treatment within the first three minutes is critical to avoid serious neurological damage or death. As of 2022, 20 states and the District of Columbia require schools to have AEDs, however, most states don’t have laws or regulations requiring AEDs in schools. Schools equipped with AEDs have a survival rate of about 70% for students experiencing SCA, which is significantly higher than the general survival rate for school-aged children.
In collaboration with Coro Medical and Avive Solutions, Inc., the new program offers significant discounts on FDA-approved AEDs for schools and youth programs. It is open to all K-12 public and private schools, as well as youth sports organizations serving children up to age 17. Additionally, certified instructors from AHA and American Red Cross will offer discounted CPR and AED training.
This initiative is the League’s latest effort to raise awareness of SCA and promote CPR and AED education. The issue became prominent following Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest during a 2023 game. The NFL and its long-time partners, the AHA and American Red Cross, worked with coaches and other youth providers last year to ensure proper training on medical emergencies.
The program is a project of the Smart Heart Sports Coalition, which was created a few months after Hamlin’s incident demanding better SCA prevention protocol. The NFL along with major sports organizations and leading health advocacy groups created the Coalition, which includes Parent Heart Watch, to advocate for all 50 states to adopt evidence-based policies that will prevent fatal outcomes.
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