March 31, 2026 | Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. — The Citizen CPR Foundation (CCPRF) proudly announces that the City of Palm Beach Gardens has successfully renewed its HEARTSafe Community designation, reaffirming its ongoing commitment to improving survival from sudden cardiac arrest through coordinated community action, training, and system-wide excellence.

Originally designated as the first HEARTSafe Community in the State of Florida, Palm Beach Gardens continues to serve as a model for cardiac emergency preparedness, prevention, and response.

The HEARTSafe Community program provides a nationally recognized framework to strengthen the chain of survival through CPR training, public access defibrillation, data-driven performance improvement, and high-performance resuscitation systems.

“Renewal of HEARTSafe designation is not simply a recognition, it is validation of sustained commitment,” said Richard Shok, Director of the HEARTSafe Community Program, Citizen CPR Foundation. “Palm Beach Gardens has demonstrated that improving cardiac arrest survival is not a one-time achievement, but an ongoing, data-driven, community-wide effort. Their work continues to set the standard for what is possible.”

To achieve renewal, Palm Beach Gardens demonstrated continued excellence across key HEARTSafe criteria, including ongoing community CPR and AED training initiatives, strategic placement and maintenance of publicly accessible AEDs, use of data to drive continuous quality improvement, strong collaboration between public safety agencies, healthcare partners, and the community, and a sustained focus on bystander response and early intervention.

Palm Beach Gardens Fire Rescue HEARTSafe Coordinator Casey Cline said, “We are proud to be redesignated as a HEARTSafe Community by the Citizens CPR Foundation – a recognition that reflects the commitment of our fire department, city leadership and community to improving survival outcomes from sudden cardiac arrest. This continued effort underscores the importance of a coordinated, community-wide approach to emergency response—one in which early recognition and immediate action play a critical role. At the heart of this initiative is a simple but powerful truth: bystanders are the first and often most vital link in the chain of survival.” 

The HEARTSafe initiative emphasizes that survival depends on a coordinated system—from bystander CPR to advanced post-arrest care, supported by education, access to AEDs, and continuous performance improvement.

“Palm Beach Gardens exemplifies what it means to build and sustain a culture of readiness,” said Stu Berger, MD, President of the Citizen CPR Foundation. “Their ability to evolve and strengthen their system over time is exactly what the HEARTSafe program is designed to achieve.”

Palm Beach Gardens’ continued commitment reinforces its role as a leader in Florida and across the United States, demonstrating how communities can work together to improve outcomes from one of the leading causes of death.