AHA Advocates on Capitol Hill

On October 28th, nearly 150 American Heart Association Heart Powered™ advocates from 47 states converged on Capitol Hill, asking elected representatives to fund the bipartisan HEARTS Act to ensure America’s schools are equipped to respond to a cardiac emergency.

Signed into law in December 2024, the HEARTS Act provides resources for schools to develop cardiac emergency response plans, including CPR training and readily accessible automated external defibrillators (AEDs). Up to 23,000 children under the age of 18 suffer a cardiac arrest each year. When someone nearby starts CPR and uses an AED it can double or triple the chances of survival from a cardiac arrest. In schools with an AED, the survival rate for cardiac arrest is nearly 70%. For context, the overall survival rate for cardiac arrest outside of a hospital is just 10%.

These American Heart Association Heart Powered™ advocates included survivors of cardiac arrest, parents who’ve lost a child, educators, first responders, medical professionals and other advocates. You can join these advocates and contact your lawmakers by email and by phone to ask them to take action to save lives by funding the grant program created when the Hearts Act was signed into law in 2024.