The American Heart Association and Major League Baseball (MLB) are collaborating to offer Hands-Only CPR training at the 2025 MLB All-Star Game, targeting to equip fans with the knowledge to save lives during cardiac emergencies. The initiative, part of the American Heart Association's Nation of Lifesavers™ movement, seeks to double survival rates from cardiac arrests by 2030 by increasing the number of people trained in CPR. This partnership represents a significant step toward educating a broader audience on the importance of immediate response, as hundreds of thousands of cardiac arrests occur outside hospitals each year, with less than half receiving necessary immediate intervention.
Hands-Only CPR, a simplified version of traditional CPR, focuses on chest compressions without mouth-to-mouth breaths, making it accessible and easy to learn for the general public. The training will be available to the public at the Capital One All-Star Village in Atlanta from July 12 to July 15, 2025, with qualified CPR trainers on-site to provide instruction. Nancy Brown, CEO of the American Heart Association, emphasized the critical role of immediate CPR in improving survival rates, noting that this marks the organization's first appearance at an MLB event, continuing its tradition of providing CPR training at major sporting events across the country.
The organization's efforts are backed by its leadership in resuscitation science and its commitment to publishing the official scientific guidelines for CPR, which can be accessed at https://www.heart.org/en/cpr. Jon Coyles, senior vice president of drug, health & safety programs at MLB, expressed pride in supporting the Nation of Lifesavers movement, highlighting the league's role in preparing fans to act in cardiac emergencies. The initiative underscores the shared goal of MLB and the American Heart Association to enhance community preparedness for cardiac emergencies in various settings, leveraging the platform of one of baseball's premier events to reach thousands of attendees.
By integrating lifesaving training into a high-profile sporting event, this collaboration addresses a critical public health gap where bystander intervention can mean the difference between life and death. The American Heart Association's broader mission, detailed at https://www.heart.org/en/about-us, focuses on building healthier lives free of cardiovascular diseases and strokes, with this MLB partnership serving as a strategic extension of that work. The hands-on approach at the All-Star Game demystifies CPR for everyday people, potentially creating a ripple effect as trained individuals share knowledge within their communities, ultimately contributing to the ambitious target of doubling cardiac arrest survival rates within the decade.
