October is National Sudden Cardiac Arrest Awareness Month, a time to review how your school, workplace, or community facility would respond to a cardiac emergency. Use the observance to check your equipment, review staff responsibilities, and identify training needs.
Varsity Health & Training Solutions provides hands-on CPR/AED certification courses and AED program support. These services connect emergency response education with equipment readiness. The following steps help you turn awareness into practical preparation for your team.
National Sudden Cardiac Arrest Awareness Month is an October observance dedicated to education about cardiac arrest and emergency response. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identifies public understanding and response as central purposes of the observance.
For your organization, October provides a practical opportunity to review AED access, staff training, and your cardiac emergency response plan. The Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation encourages schools, workplaces, and communities to build CPR and AED skills. Choose specific actions and assign someone to follow through on each one.
Cardiac arrest occurs when the heart stops pumping blood effectively. A heart attack occurs when blood flow to part of the heart is blocked. A heart attack can lead to cardiac arrest, but the terms describe different emergencies.
Your team should recognize unresponsiveness and absent or abnormal breathing as reasons to act immediately. Do not assume that someone must report chest pain before cardiac arrest can occur.
If someone is unresponsive and not breathing normally, including only gasping, act immediately. The Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation emphasizes recognizing these signs, calling 911, starting CPR, and using an AED as soon as possible.
Review these actions during hands-on training. Written guidance supports preparation but does not replace skills practice.
AED readiness starts with knowing where your AED is, how your specific device works, and who is responsible for keeping it ready for use. Since AEDs vary by manufacturer and model, becoming familiar with your organization’s equipment is an important part of preparedness.
At Varsity Health & Training Solutions, we train organizations on the same AEDs they have onsite, helping staff become familiar with their equipment and confident in responding when it matters. We also offer AED inspections, replacement supplies, medical direction support, and ongoing AED program management to help organizations maintain a ready-to-use program. Our goal is simple: help your organization know its equipment, keep it ready, and know who to call when you need support.
Hands-on CPR and AED training gives your staff an opportunity to practice emergency response skills and build confidence before an emergency happens. While certain positions or organizations may have specific training requirements, CPR and AED awareness shouldn't be limited to only those who are required to be certified.
When more people in your organization know how to recognize an emergency, perform CPR, and use an AED, there are more people prepared to take action when every second counts. We encourage organizations to train as many employees as possible—not just the minimum number required. The more trained responders you have, the better prepared your organization is to respond.
Training should also be appropriate for your team’s responsibilities and the ages of the people your facility serves. Employees don't necessarily need to perform the same role, but everyone can benefit from understanding what to do and how to respond.
Varsity Health & Training Solutions offers CPR/AED certification courses, including adult, child, and infant instruction for lay responders and healthcare providers. We can help your organization determine the appropriate training for your team and provide hands-on instruction using the equipment your staff may encounter in an emergency.
Don't train only because you have to—train because you want more people prepared to help.
A response plan should identify who calls 911, retrieves the AED, begins CPR, and directs emergency responders to the scene. Prepare backup assignments for absences and different shifts.
Practice a scenario in your actual facility. Check whether staff know the address, access points, AED location, and their assigned responsibilities. Use what you learn to update the plan.
October is a great time to take a closer look at your organization's CPR and AED preparedness—but readiness shouldn't end when the month does.
Your team should know where your AEDs are located, who is trained to respond, and what their responsibilities are during an emergency. The ongoing equipment management, inspections, replacement supplies, tracking, and program support, however, don't have to become another task on your staff's to-do list.
That's where the professionals can help.
Sudden Cardiac Arrest Awareness Month is observed every October, making it an important time for organizations to take a closer look at their cardiac emergency preparedness.
October also includes World Restart a Heart Day on October 16, an international awareness day focused on CPR and encouraging people to take action when someone experiences cardiac arrest.
Sudden cardiac arrest can happen without warning, and the first few minutes matter. CPR and early AED use are critical links in the chain of survival. The American Heart Association reports that immediate CPR can double or triple a cardiac arrest victim’s chance of survival.
That makes October more than just an awareness month—it is a great opportunity for organizations to prepare before an emergency happens.
Yes. Sudden cardiac arrest can affect children, teenagers, and adults, including people who appear healthy. If your facility serves younger people, prepare with age-appropriate CPR training and AED supplies. Varsity Health & Training Solutions offers adult, child, and infant CPR/AED instruction.
Managing an AED program involves more than simply purchasing an AED and placing it on a wall. Equipment, training, inspections, replacement supplies, medical direction, documentation, and ongoing management all play a role in maintaining a ready and supported AED program.
Varsity Health & Training Solutions provides full-service AED program management, supporting organizations throughout the entire life of their AED equipment—from the initial purchase and installation through training, inspections, replacement supplies, equipment upgrades, and ongoing program management.
Our services can include:
While Varsity can manage the ongoing maintenance and administrative side of your AED program, every organization should also designate onsite roles and responsibilities. Staff should know where AEDs are located, who is responsible for contacting emergency services, who is trained to provide CPR and use the AED, and who should be contacted if equipment is missing, damaged, or indicates a problem.
The goal is to create a program where your organization knows who is responsible for what—and has a trusted partner to handle the rest.
With Varsity as your AED program management partner, you don't have to navigate equipment purchases, training, inspections, replacement schedules, and ongoing AED requirements on your own. We help manage the program from purchase to replacement and everything in between.
Varsity Health & Training Solutions offers hands-on CPR/AED training for both lay responders and healthcare providers, with courses covering adult, child, and infant CPR. Our goal is not only to provide certification, but to help participants feel comfortable recognizing an emergency, starting CPR, and using an AED when it matters most.
We offer two primary levels of CPR/AED training:
Our Basic CPR/AED course is designed for lay responders who may be called upon to provide assistance during a medical emergency but are not healthcare professionals.
Depending on class size, the course is typically completed in 2–3 hours and includes hands-on practice with CPR and AED equipment.
Participants learn how to:
Our Healthcare Provider CPR/AED course, commonly referred to as HCP or BLS, is designed for healthcare professionals and individuals whose responsibilities require a higher level of CPR training.
This is also the level of CPR certification required for New York State camps.
The course is typically completed in approximately 3 hours and provides additional training in assessment, ventilation, and team-based resuscitation.
Participants learn how to:
One of the most important parts of CPR/AED training is becoming familiar with the equipment that is actually available at your organization.
That's why Varsity provides hands-on AED training using the equipment your staff may encounter in an emergency. Understanding where the AED is located, how it operates, and what to expect when it is turned on can help employees feel more prepared to take action.
And our philosophy is simple: the more people who are trained, the better prepared an organization can be. While some positions may have specific certification requirements, we encourage organizations to train as many employees as practical—not just the minimum number required.
We recommend refreshing CPR/AED training every year.
Hopefully, your employees have not had to use their CPR or AED skills since their last training. But that also means it may have been a year since they have had the opportunity to practice those skills in a hands-on setting.
CPR and AED response are skills that can become less familiar when they aren't regularly practiced. Annual training gives your team an opportunity to refresh those skills, build confidence, and practice using an AED before an emergency occurs.
Annual training is also an opportunity to:
At Varsity Health & Training Solutions, we believe CPR/AED training should be an ongoing part of your organization's safety program—not something your team thinks about only after an emergency happens.
Train. Refresh. Practice. Repeat.
The goal is simple: when an emergency happens, your employees should feel prepared to recognize the situation, start CPR, and use the AED without hesitation.