• by Les Luchter , February 1, 2023

The American Heart Association (AHA) has enlisted Damar Hamlin, arguably America’s most famous cardiac arrest victim, for a new “#3forHeart CPR Challenge.”

Hamlin, the Buffalo Bills player who collapsed on field during a” Monday Night Football" telecast in early January, is helping the AHA promote hands-on CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) by promoting a three-step program:

1. Watch a 60-second video that teaches how to do CPR (call 911 and “push hard and fast in the center of the chest until help arrives”
2. Donate to the AHA
3.  Use the #3forHeart hashtag on social media “to challenge three friends to do the same”

Hamlin kicked off the campaign on Twitter and Instagram with a video message and his own  challenge to three of his friends:  NBA superstar LeBron James, just re-retired NFL quarterback great Tom Brady, and former First Lady Michelle Obama.

The Hamlin challenge coincides with the launch of American Heart Month (February, natch), which also sees the AHA pushing hands-on CPR through a “Be the Beat” campaign, which encourages every household to have one member who can do CPR. This campaign adds the suggestion to push hard and fast to the beat of a song that has 100 to 120 beats a minute like “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees" and  “Crazy in Love” by Beyoncé.

“Be the Beat” was developed by the AHA and Million Hearts, which^,is a national initiative co-led by the Centers for Disease Control and Preventionand the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Consumer brands like Bayer Aspirin and the MyFitnessPal app are also marking Heart Month.

Through a partnership with Huma Therapeutics, Bayer has launched a heart risk assessment tool  on its website. The tool uses 15 questions to determine the user’s risk for developing cardiovascular disease (CVD) over the next 10 years.

Bayer says the new tool will be a core element of a national public awareness campaign to “encourage those at elevated risk to talk to their healthcare professional about their risk profile as a proactive way to manage their health risks.” The campaign will use various digital media and partner channels, the company says.

MyFitnessPal, which tracks both nutrition and fitness, is erecting giant heart-shaped structures made of sugar in four of the top five “sugar-logging” countries. That includes the U.S., where the sculpture is in Miami. The other locales are Toronto, Sydney and London.

The sugary concoctions are part of a campaign called “Less Sweet, More Heart” campaign, which includes its own online quiz, featuring five questions testing the user’s knowledge of sugar.