NFL Players Lead National CPR Awareness Campaign on World Restart a Heart Day

The American Heart Association and National Football League have unveiled the 2025 Nation of Lifesavers Player Ambassador Class on World Restart a Heart Day, featuring 30 current NFL players dedicated to promoting CPR education and training. The initiative represents a significant collaboration between professional sports and health organizations to address the critical gap in bystander CPR response during cardiac emergencies.

Player ambassadors will support the American Heart Association's call to action by amplifying public service announcements, social media content, and local community education events. Two ambassadors took the field during Thursday Night Football between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals, with the game featuring free Hands-Only CPR education in the pregame fan zone and recognition of bystander CPR heroes through the Heartsaver Hero Award program.

The initiative gains particular significance given the statistics surrounding cardiac arrest survival. According to the American Heart Association, over half of sudden cardiac arrest victims outside hospitals do not receive immediate CPR, leading to a 90% fatality rate. However, learning Hands-Only CPR takes just 90 seconds and can double or triple survival chances, making this educational effort potentially lifesaving for thousands of Americans annually.

Nancy Brown, chief executive officer of the American Heart Association, emphasized the importance of the partnership, stating that immediate CPR can mean the difference between life and death during cardiac emergencies. The collaboration builds on momentum generated following Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin's sudden cardiac arrest during Monday Night Football in 2023, which brought national attention to the importance of CPR readiness.

This marks the second annual ambassador class supporting the Association's Nation of Lifesavers movement. The American Heart Association, as the global leader in CPR, publishes official guidelines for CPR and has been creating resuscitation science, education and training for more than 60 years. The current initiative supports the organization's goal to double survival rates of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest by 2030.

The NFL Foundation provides CPR grants to each team to increase CPR and AED access in community neighborhoods. Since 2023, these annual grants have funded Hands-Only CPR training, Heartsaver CPR AED credentialing, placement of CPR in Schools Kits and CPR Youth Sports Kits. More than half of NFL teams have hosted American Heart Association trainings, educating players, staff, youth coaches and fan families on Hands-Only CPR and Heartsaver CPR AED techniques.

As part of NFL PLAY 60 youth health and wellness efforts in schools alongside the American Heart Association, Hands-Only CPR Education serves as a key pillar within the Kids Heart Challenge and American Heart Challenge. Students and families learn to recognize cardiac emergencies, call 911, and perform chest compressions through these programs, becoming champions for heart health in their communities.

The American Heart Association also serves as a founding member of the Smart Heart Sports Coalition established by the NFL in 2023, advocating for all 50 states to adopt evidence-based public policies preventing fatal outcomes from cardiac arrest among high school students. With more than 23,000 children under 18 experiencing cardiac arrest outside hospitals annually, and approximately 40% occurring among student-athletes, this represents a critical public health priority.

Given that nearly three out of four cardiac arrests outside hospitals occur in homes, the knowledge of how to perform CPR becomes critically important for general public safety. The American Heart Association provides comprehensive resources for learning this lifesaving skill at https://www.heart.org/nation and specific Hands-Only CPR training at https://www.heart.org/HandsOnlyCPR.