May 28, 2026 – CHELMSFORD, MASS. – From local fields to national venues, youth sports play out every day across the country. Today, ZOLL® Medical, an Asahi Kasei company, announced the next phase of its national Anything Can Happen. Anyone Can Help.™ campaign, aimed at strengthening cardiac emergency readiness where young athletes play.

Sudden cardiac arrest remains the leading cause of death among young athletes¹, and approximately 356,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur nationwide each year.² Immediate CPR and defibrillation with an AED can dramatically improve survival outcomes before emergency responders arrive, which is why youth sports venues and community gathering places are a critical focus for Anyone Can Help.

Building on its work with pro athlete and cardiac arrest survivor Damar Hamlin, the campaign mobilizes national collaborations to expand AED education and access across youth leagues, engage athletes and youth leaders as advocates, and highlight venues such as Fenway Park as a model for cardiac preparedness.

At the heart of the effort is a simple but critical message: AEDs can empower bystanders to act in emergencies. With clear audio and visual prompts guiding potentially lifesaving actions, AEDs can serve as nearby coaches for bystanders—whether a trainer, parent, teammate or spectator—to respond when every second counts.

“Sudden cardiac arrest doesn’t wait for trained responders,” said Keith Reynolds, head of ZOLL's Public Safety business. “That’s why ZOLL is working to ensure AEDs are visible and ready to use where young athletes play so spectators are empowered to act in the critical moments before EMS can arrive.”

ZOLL’s efforts come as awareness and access gaps around AEDs persist across youth sports settings.

Parents Overestimate Cardiac Emergency Preparedness in Youth Sports

Recent data³ suggests many parents have significant misperceptions:

• 57% mistakenly believe all youth coaches are required to have CPR and AED training;
• 53% do not know if their child’s sports practice or game facility is equipped with an AED;
• 50% believe all youth sports teams have access to a team AED, even though most U.S. states do not specifically mandate one.

AEDs May Be Present — But Not Always Findable

Even when AEDs are installed on-site, their location may not be clearly marked or easily findable, which can delay lifesaving action in an emergency.

• Only 1 in 5 (22%) parents say they know where to find the nearest AED at a youth sporting event.⁴

Tools like the National Emergency AED Registry (NEAR), integrated into the PulsePoint app, help make AEDs searchable in real time by bystanders and first responders. Yet of the estimated 1.1 million AEDs deployed nationwide, as of today, only about 212,000⁵ are currently registered.

Building Cardiac Emergency Readiness Where Communities Gather

Nationwide, Anyone Can Help is mobilizing strategic collaborations to address gaps in AED awareness and access by:

• Expanding AED Access in Youth Sports: With RCX Sports Foundation, ZOLL is providing AEDs through grant programs and helping league administrators prepare to respond through education and a league-wide webinar, with a focus on underserved communities.
• Making AEDs Findable Nationwide: ZOLL continues its Anyone Can Register call to action for volunteers and organizations to enroll AEDs in the NEAR so they are searchable in real time through the PulsePoint app. ZOLL and other organizations will begin activities to increase AED registration and visibility in New England in early summer.
• Setting a National Standard at Fenway Park: As the provider of the Official AED of the Boston Red Sox and Fenway Park, ZOLL will establish Fenway Park as a model of cardiac emergency preparedness. Activities include installing ZOLL AEDs, training staff, educating spectators on how to respond in an emergency, and showcasing a system for comprehensive readiness.
• Expanding the Roster of AED Ambassadors: Four collegiate athletes will join Damar Hamlin in a ZOLL-produced digital series to expand the campaign’s reach and demonstrate how AEDs can enable anyone to help with a cardiac emergency.

Visit AnyoneCanHelp.com for a free AED Community Activation Kit and tools to help communities build confidence and readiness.

About ZOLL

ZOLL, an Asahi Kasei company, develops and markets medical devices and software solutions that help advance care and save lives, while increasing clinical and operational efficiencies. With products for defibrillation and cardiac monitoring, circulation enhancement and CPR feedback, supersaturated oxygen therapy, data management, ventilation, therapeutic temperature management, and sleep apnea diagnosis and treatment, ZOLL provides a comprehensive set of technologies that help clinicians, EMS and fire professionals, as well as lay rescuers, improve patient outcomes in critical cardiopulmonary conditions. For more information, visit www.zoll.com.

¹ Sudden cardiac arrest in athletes and strategies to optimize preparedness - PMC
² CPR Facts and Stats | American Heart Association CPR & First Aid
³ The Harris Poll on behalf of ZOLL Medical from May 27–29, 2025, among 2,095 adults ages 18+
⁴ The Harris Poll on behalf of ZOLL Medical from May 27–29, 2025, among 2,095 adults ages 18+
⁵ https://www.pulsepoint.org/stats

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