The American Heart Association was recently awarded the Grand Prize in Ragan’s PR Daily’s Media Relations Awards for “Media Relations Campaign of the Year” (large campaign category), for the remarkable work during the 2023 American Heart Month.

As more than 65,000 stadium fans and millions of television viewers watched in horror when Damar Hamlin collapsed on the football field from sudden cardiac arrest on Monday, January 2, 2023, the American Heart Association was tying the bow on its CPR-focused American Heart Month campaign scheduled to launch four weeks later.

The media pros at the nearly 100-year-old voluntary health organization instantly recognized the sudden relevancy of their message and the unique opportunity to help ease the powerless feeling many have after witnessing a sudden cardiac arrest by empowering people to learn Hands-Only CPR. In less than 24 hours, they retooled the planned media relations campaign for immediate launch in an all-hands-on-deck effort. The media calls started on Monday night, continuing for weeks, with more than 700 requests in the first 10 days.

The expanded campaign focused on providing accurate CPR information and education, while becoming an ally for the Hamlin family and engaging partners to amplify the lifesaving Hands-Only CPR resources.

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