HOUSTON (August 4, 2025) — On Saturday, August 2, the University of Houston football team participated in an American Heart Association Paul “Bear” Bryant Awards-led Hands-Only CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) training to learn the correct rate and depth of CPR compressions to be confident and capable when faced with a cardiac emergency.
Learning Hands-Only CPR is the skill needed to join the Association’s Nation of Lifesavers™ movement, which is focused on doubling survival rates from sudden cardiac arrest by 2030. According to American Heart Association data, 9 out of every 10 of people who experience cardiac arrest outside of a hospital die, in part because they do not receive immediate CPR more than half of the time. CPR, especially if performed immediately, can double or triple a person’s chance of survival.
The American Heart Association is a founding member of the Smart Heart Sports Coalition established by the NFL in 2023. The coalition is actively advocating for all 50 states to adopt evidence-based public policies that will prevent fatal outcomes from cardiac arrest among high school students. According to the American Heart Association, as many as 23,000 children under the age of 18 experience cardiac outside of a hospital annually, and about 40% of those occur among student-athletes. It is a leading cause of death for student-athletes nationwide.
Take 90 seconds to learn Hands-Only CPR and join the Nation of Lifesavers, visit heart.org/nation.
Saturday’s training marked the second consecutive year in which the Cougars football team has joined the Nation of Lifesavers.
The American Heart Association, a global force changing the future of health for all, is the worldwide leader in resuscitation science, education and training, and publishes the official guidelines for CPR. With nearly 3 out of 4 cardiac arrests outside of the hospital occurring in homes, knowing how to perform CPR is critically important. More than 350,000 people in the US have an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest every year.
The American Heart Association is a founding member of the Smart Heart Sports Coalition established by the NFL in 2023. The coalition is actively advocating for all 50 states to adopt evidence-based public policies that will prevent fatal outcomes from cardiac arrest among high school students. According to the American Heart Association, as many as 23,000 children under the age of 18 experience cardiac outside of a hospital annually, and about 40% of those occur among student-athletes. It is a leading cause of death for student-athletes nationwide.
Take 90 seconds to learn Hands-Only CPR and join the Nation of Lifesavers, visit heart.org/nation.
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