“Shock for Your Little Heart” Raises Awareness and Access to AEDs


A large multimedia campaign in Vienna called Schock fürs Herzilein (Shock for Your Little Heart) is taking a lighthearted approach to informing the public of the need to act when witnessing sudden cardiac arrest. The centerpiece is a song of the same name, which was written especially for this effort by the beloved German folk duo and campaign ambassadors Die Wildecker Herzbuben (The Wildhearts). The song’s refrain is “Call, press, shock. You can’t go wrong with that.”

The German outdoor advertising company Gewista is spearheading the initiative in collaboration with the city of Vienna and Puls, a nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting sudden cardiac death. The message they want to convey is that survival from cardiac arrest can increase from 11% to 70% if nonmedical professionals take action by performing CPR and using an AED. It features outdoor and TV ads, training events, social media, and more than 2,000 posters. 

In addition to raising awareness, making sure AEDs are widely available in public places and spaces is also a goal, and additional AED units are being installed in cabinets on city streets. ZOLL is a sponsor of the Schock fürs Herzilein campaign; more than 100 ZOLL AED Plus units are already in place in government and office buildings in Vienna.

“We think it’s great that all of Vienna is being equipped with defibrillators, and that we have the honor of being the poster children for this groundbreaking project,” said Wilfried Gliem and Wolfgang Schwalm, the members of Die Wildecker Herzbuben.

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