To become HEARTSafe, a community must fulfill 13 criteria. Some of these requirements include establishing a lead organization to guide and coordinate local efforts, training 15 percent of the community population every year, developing and implementing strategies to improve public awareness and bystander intervention, permanently placing automated external defibrillators (AEDs) that can be quickly and reliably accessed, and recognizing rescuers for their lifesaving efforts, among other critical requisites. For a comprehensive list of criteria in order to become a HEARTSafe Community, click here.

Detroit’s success is the result of a collaborative effort involving the Detroit Fire Department, Detroit East Medical Control Authority, prominent health organizations, local hospitals, and leading companies and organizations, including Ford Field and General Motors. This citywide alliance has trained over 100,000 people in CPR and AED use within the past year, registered more than 500 AEDs on the PulsePoint app, and initiated a program to train all city employees in Hands-Only CPR.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan recognized the city’s commitment: “Our team has been working behind the scenes for nearly twenty years, gathering data on cardiac arrest, building relationships, and working to improve outcomes. Thanks to the Citizen CPR Foundation for highlighting this critical effort and giving us actionable goals to continue to work toward.”

Executive Fire Commissioner Chuck Simms emphasized the collaborative nature of this accomplishment: “I am proud of the dedication of the men and women of the Detroit Fire Department for their hard work towards becoming the largest municipality to be designated a HEARTSafe Community. Our residents deserve the best we can provide in terms of education and prevention, but we can’t do it alone. We need the support of the whole community as we work to improve cardiac arrest care for the citizens of Detroit.”

David Hiltz, HEARTSafe Program Director and Citizen CPR Foundation liaison to the City of Detroit, praised the example set by the city and its HEARTSafe team.

“Detroit has done an exceptional job in implementing the program’s evidence-based process measures and best practices, enabling short and long-term improvements for their system,” Hiltz said. “These improvements will benefit citizens and visitors who experience sudden cardiac arrest in Detroit. They have set a great example for other municipalities who aim to improve their system of care for cardiac arrest.”

That example includes outlining ambitious and inspiring objectives to guide future, measurable improvements:

• Training 15% of the city’s population in CPR every year
• Working to train all City of Detroit employees in at least Hands-Only CPR
• Ensure all 8th grade students in the City of Detroit trained in Hands-Only CPR
• Encourage organizations and community groups in the City of Detroit to develop cardiac arrest emergency response plans
• Purchase additional AEDs and install them in key public places
• Continue to promote AED registration through the PulsePoint app
• Educate the community on the risk of sudden cardiac arrest, prevention and how to respond in an emergency

Richard Shok, RN, NRP, EMS-I, Chair, HEARTSafe Program Advisory Committee and CEO of Code One Training Solutions, LLC, commended the city’s efforts: “The city of Detroit’s commitment to improving cardiac arrest outcomes for its residents, workers, and visitors is a game-changer. The investment that the city has made will impact the lives of cardiac arrest victims and their families for years to come.”

Added Josh Smith, captain/paramedic, Richland Fire & Emergency Services and Vice Chair, HEARTSafe Program Advisory Committee, “I am blown away at what the City of Detroit has accomplished. Through a willingness to embrace a holistic approach to cardiac arrest survival, they have inspired a workforce, increased their value to the community and provided families, friends, and loved ones with a second chance on life that they likely would not have had before. HEARTSafe Detroit is normalizing survival from sudden cardiac arrest and is sure to bring an industry along with them.”

James Suozzi, DO, NRP, is Associate Medical Director and EMS Medical Director for the Cheshire Medical Center’s Emergency Department and Vice Chair of the HEARTSafe Program Advisory Committee. He celebrates the immense progress made in Detroit and the example the city sets for other municipalities throughout the U.S.

“From the heartbreak of previously having one of the lowest cardiac arrest survival rates in the nation, Detroit has risen with resilience,” Suozzi said. “Using the Citizen CPR Foundation’s HEARTSafe Community roadmap, this city now stands as a beacon of hope, having built a comprehensive cardiac arrest system of care that not only saves more lives but also strengthens the heartbeat of its community.”

The Citizen CPR Foundation joins the entire Detroit team in celebrating this historic accomplishment and is “so proud to designate Detroit as a HEARTSafe Community,” says Stuart Berger, MD, Citizen CPR Foundation Board President and Executive Director, the Heart Center at Lurie Children’s Hospital. “Leading up to this designation, Detroit has done impressive work in improving their system of care for sudden cardiac arrest. The impact of these well-delivered community-based strategies will be measured directly in the number of lives saved in their city.”