(NewMediaWire) – October 16, 2023 – DALLAS and STAVANGER, Norway — For nearly 20 years, the American Heart Association^® (Association) and Laerdal Medical (Laerdal) have together developed and brought resuscitation education, training and technology to the health care market.  The Association and Laerdal will now expand their focus beyond education to creating and nurturing health care quality improvement solutions to impact a community “systems of care” approach and influence more positive patient outcomes. This World Restart a Heart Day, the organizations are furthering their collaborative relationship and have committed to help save an additional 1 million lives by 2030 each year by being a catalyst for improving access and the quality of lifesaving emergency systems of care for all.  

With a shared mission to help save more lives from cardiac arrest, the American Heart Association, the world’s leading voluntary organization dedicated to a world of longer, healthier lives for all, and Laerdal Medical, one of the world leaders in medical simulation and resuscitation training, have co-developed and brought innovative resuscitation quality improvement programs, education and training to health care providers for decades. The organizations’ early collaborative products include the HeartCode^® portfolio in the mid-1990s, followed by the CPR Anytime Kit and CPR in Schools Training Kit, debuting in 2004 and 2013, respectively.

Some of their more recent introductions include the Resuscitation Quality Improvement^® Program (RQI^®) and RQI for NRP^® (Neonatal Resuscitation Program^®), in collaboration with the American Academy of Pediatrics.

“We have decades of shared innovations of which we are very proud, and programs that continue to succeed and flourish to help us realize our commitment to help save an additional 1 million lives by 2030 each year,” said Alf-Christian Dybdahl, Laerdal Medical chief executive officer. “Focusing on the road ahead, our renewed alliance signals our expanded scope of work dedicated to promising current and future projects to improve resuscitation and emergency care outcomes and health care quality and access as a whole.”  

There are several strategies that will jointly power the commitment to save one million more lives each year by 2030. Both organizations are participating in the World Health Organization’s Acute Care Action Network (ACAN) to strengthen emergency care systems in low and middle-income countries by training and supporting 250,000 nurses and midwives in these countries.

Further supporting this commitment is the newly launched Nation of Lifesavers campaign by the Association calling people to become part of a movement to help double survivor rates from sudden cardiac arrest by 2030. Additionally, expanding the RQI program footprint globally and embracing efforts to improve emergency, critical and operative care for universal health coverage and protection from health emergencies will augment the robust activations that are helping drive the Alliance renewal.

Central to the Association and Laerdal Alliance is RQI Partners LLC, the partnership between and service provider for resuscitation programs for the organizations. Formed in 2018, the company is charged with accelerating adoption of their co-developed digital resuscitation education and training by hospitals and health systems, emergency medical services agencies and nursing programs at U.S. colleges and universities. Since the RQI program launch eight years ago, more than 2,400 hospitals and 2 million nurses globally are using their modernized, digital CPR training solutions. More importantly, it is estimated that more than 20,000 lives have been saved.

“Our commitment to resuscitation education and training is unwavering and remains firmly intact,” said John Meiners, American Heart Association chief of mission-aligned businesses and health care solutions. “Today’s announcement signals a renewed intent to expand our commitment to help save an additional 1 million lives, each year, by 2030. We will continue directing our respective resources, science, education and technology to being a catalyst for dramatically improving access and quality of health care for all. Since 2005, we have leaned into innovation to effect change in health care and challenge the status quo — using the RQI program portfolio as the standard of quality improvement resuscitation care. This will hold true through this recommitment, with the additional focus on challenging standards of care across multidisciplinary health care practices.”

The core tenets that will drive the Association and Laerdal Alliance focus through 2030 and fuel mission achievement to help save an additional 1 million lives by 2030 each year include:

• Helping prevent and improve the response to emergency events
• Creating a culture rooted in quality improvement learning within the emergency care landscape
• Challenging the standards of care
• Reaching new audiences
• Embracing a global mission and continuing to support the Global Resuscitation Alliance
• Supporting emergency care research
• Directing financial contributions to the lifesaving mission
• Expanding CPR in Schools

“The World Health Organization has more than 30 million deaths documented annually that are the result of time-critical emergencies.[1] Cardiac arrest ranks among the top in this category. Pairing our co-developed CPR training and education solutions with other evidence-based, well implemented interventions creates the potential for real change and improved access and quality of care,” Dybdahl said.

For additional information and to learn more about the Association and Laerdal’s digital resuscitation training solutions, visit the RQI Partners’ website.

Additional Resources:

About the American Heart Association

The American Heart Association is a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives. We are dedicated to ensuring equitable health in all communities. Through collaboration with numerous organizations, and powered by millions of volunteers, we fund innovative research, advocate for the public’s health and share lifesaving resources. The Dallas-based organization has been a leading source of health information for nearly a century. Connect with us on heart.org, Facebook, X or by calling 1-800-AHA-USA1.   

About Laerdal Medical 

Laerdal is dedicated to our mission of helping save lives. Laerdal Medical is a world leader in healthcare education and resuscitation training that uses immersive technologies and data-centric insights to increase survival and improve healthcare quality. We empower our heroes/life savers, and healthcare workers, to help them save more lives. Improving the quality of care is part of our mission, to help save more lives. And we have established the goal to help save one million more lives. Every year. By 2030. However, we can’t do this alone. This is a shared goal of the Laerdal Group. A group of companies that develops healthcare-related solutions and programs focused on a common mission to help save lives, together with our Partners. The Laerdal Group is composed of Laerdal Medical, Laerdal Global Health, Million Lives Fund and Laerdal Foundation. Laerdal is a global company in 26 countries worldwide with its head office located in Stavanger, Norway. For more information, visit www.laerdal.com.

About RQI Partners LLC

RQI Partners LLC, a partnership between the American Heart Association and Laerdal Medical, positions the organizations to deliver innovative solutions that accelerate the impact of their lifesaving mission. The company blends the Association’s leadership in science and resuscitation education with Laerdal’s expertise in technology and implementation to deliver impactful and innovative resuscitation quality improvement programs. For more information, visit www.rqipartners.com and follow us on X and LinkedIn.

For Media Inquiries, contact:

American Heart Association: Sarah D. Williams; 214-706-1156; [email protected]

Laerdal Medical: Pål Oftedal; +47 906 126 70; [email protected]

RQI Partners: Stephanie M. Brown; 214-984-0013; [email protected]