The American Heart Association has awarded 32 Nation of Lifesaver financial grants to American Heart Association Heart Clubs at high schools and colleges in 20 states, including the District of Columbia. These grants aim to make campuses safer by providing CPR training and resources, addressing the statistic that 9 out of 10 people who experience cardiac arrest outside a hospital die, often because immediate CPR is not administered.
The grants support student-led Heart Clubs, which were launched in the 2024-2025 school year and now number over 250 across the U.S. Recipient colleges include University of Rhode Island, Howard University, Cornell University, and the University of Texas at Austin, among others. High school recipients include Locust Valley High School in New York, where a student survived cardiac arrest last November due to prepared staff and an AED.
“When my son’s heart stopped, his coaches knew exactly what to do and jumped into action. But not everyone is that lucky,” said Pia Scarfo Allocca, mother of Francesco Allocca. “Once people knew what was happening, their training kicked in. Someone started compressions. Someone grabbed the AED. My son is alive because his school was prepared.”
For colleges, the grants include funding for two CPR in Schools Kits with manikins and training materials, plus $500 to facilitate CPR training on campus. High school grants focus on developing a Cardiac Emergency Response Plan, providing card-credentialed CPR First Aid AED training, raising awareness with CPR kits, and advocating for safer school policies.
“Preparation should be the norm, not the exception,” said Stacey E. Rosen, M.D., volunteer president of the American Heart Association. “These Heart Club grants will support the student volunteers and teacher advocates across this country working to save lives through CPR training and education.”
The American Heart Association is a global leader in resuscitation science and publishes official CPR guidelines. The latest guidelines were released in October 2025 in the journal Circulation. The Association’s Nation of Lifesavers initiative aims to turn bystanders into lifesavers, with a long-term goal of ensuring anyone can perform CPR in an emergency. Learn Hands-Only CPR at heart.org/HandsOnlyCPR.
