By Deputy County Executive Lisa Chimera
February is American Heart Month and I would like to take the time to provide an update on Erie County’s efforts towards earning HEARTSafe Community designation. The HEARTSafe designation reflects a commitment to saving lives through effective preparation, enhancing our community’s ability to respond swiftly to sudden cardiac emergencies.
Part of the criteria for the HEARTSafe designation is to have trained 15-percent of the community in hands-only CPR. In relation to Erie County, this equates to just over 145,000 residents. We are well on our way to reaching this goal, training a total of 103,226 individuals during the 2024 calendar year.
But now we need you! I encourage everyone to participate in a hands-only CPR training. This can be done in person, or even by watching a short video clip. To be counted in our total, go to www3.erie.gov/health/heartsafe-video, watch the video and enter your zip code into the attached form. A Spanish language version is also available.
In-person trainings are also available through the Erie County Department of Health (ECDOH) Office of Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP), and our community partners. To learn more, or to register for an upcoming training visit: www.erie.gov/heartsafe.
Another way that you can help us reach this goal is by entering the UBMD AED Registration contest for a chance to win prizes up to $1,000! Your help spotting and registering AEDs ensures that 911 dispatchers can easily direct callers to a nearby AED, in addition to having these locations visible via a Google search, and through the smartphone app “Pulse Point.”
You’ll first need to enroll with “Cardiac Crusaders”, a nonprofit founded by Western New York native and Sudden Cardiac Arrest survivor Julie Coon and her husband Greg. After signing up, we ask you to watch a 20-minute video to become an AED Location Verifier. Winners will be announced February 14. For more details visit www.ubmdems.com/aed-contest.
One last piece of exciting information is the recent passage of the Cardiomyopathy Health Education, Awareness, and Research, and AED Training in the Schools Act of 2024 (HEARTS Act). Backed by Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin, this bill was signed into law by President Joe Biden on Dec. 23, 2024.
Under the new public law, the Department of Health and Human Services must disseminate information about cardiomyopathy and the use of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) to certain school professionals, families, and others, and it must develop specified risk assessment tools for cardiomyopathy.
In addition, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health must report on certain research and data relating to cardiomyopathy. The act also establishes a grant program to provide cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training and AEDs in public schools.
I thank everyone who has helped in our efforts to make Erie County a HEARTSafe community, and to my fellow lawmakers for championing the important HEARTS Act legislation. I wish everyone a happy, healthy and safe 2025!