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Heart Safe Communities
Sudden cardiac arrest can happen anywhere, at anytime, to anyone. And it's almost always fatal. Cardiovascular events, including cardiac arrest, are the second-leading cause of death in Minnesota, responsible for almost 18% of deaths.
In 2022, about 40% of Minnesota's heart disease deaths happened before arriving at a hospital, and many of those were caused by cardiac arrest.
The Minnesota Department of Health, the American Heart Association, the Minnesota Ambulance Association, the Minnesota Resuscitation Consortium, and others have partnered to promote Heart Safe Communities, an effort to 
prevent death from sudden cardiac arrest by:
- Increasing community and public awareness
- Placing automated external defibrillators (AEDs) wherever people live, work and play
- Educating the public on how to administer CPR
As of 2024, more than 1.6 million Minnesotans live or work in a Heart Safe Community.
Heart Safe Communities helps communities and organizations:
- Educate community members about sudden cardiac arrest and improving heart health
- Train people how to use AEDs and perform CPR
Heart Safe Designation
Heart Safe designation recognizes a community's efforts to prepare its staff and citizens to recognize when someone suffers a sudden cardiac arrest and how to respond. Any municipality, county or organization in Minnesota can apply for the Heart Safe designation from the Minnesota Department of Health and American Heart Association.
More than a million Minnesotans live or work in these Heart Safe communities.
- Andover
- Anoka
- Apple Valley
- Baxter
- Bayport
- Birchwood Village
- Blaine
- Bloomington
- Brainerd
- Breezy Point
- Brooklyn Center
- Cambridge
- Champlin
- Chaska
- Cokato
- Columbia Heights
- Coon Rapids
- Cross Lake
- Dassel
- Delano
- Eagan
- East Bethel
- Farmington
- Fayal Township (St. Louis County)
- Fergus Falls
- Fosston
- Fridley
- Gem Lake
- Golden Valley
- Ham Lake
- Hastings
- Hugo
- Isanti County
- Kandiyohi County
- La Crescent
- Lake City
- Lake Elmo
- Lakeville
- Long Lake
- Mahtomedi
- Maple Grove
- Maple Plain
- Maplewood
- Marine-on-St. Croix
- Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe
- Minnetonka
- Minnetonka Beach
- Minnetrista
- Mound
- Mounds View
- New Brighton
- New Ulm
- New York Mills
- Orono
- Osseo
- Perham
- Plymouth
- Ramsey
- Richville
- Rockford
- Roseville
- St. Anthony Village
- Savage
- Shakopee
- South Metro Fire Department (South St. Paul and West St. Paul)
- Spring Park
- Stevens County
- Stillwater
- Two Harbors
- Vadnais Heights
- Waverly
- White Bear Lake
- White Bear Township (Ramsey County)
- Willmar
- Winsted
- Woodbury
- 133rd Airlift Wing Minnesota National Guard (Fort Snelling)
- 3M (Maplewood)
- Be the Match
- Beckman Coulter
- Bethlehem Academy (Faribault)
- Brooklyn Center High School
- Caribou Coffee Headquarters
- Coon Rapids High School
- General Mills
- Gustavus Adolphus College (St. Peter)
- Medtronic (Sullivan Lake Campus, Columbia Heights)
- Millerbernd Manufacturing
- Minnesota Vikings
- Order of St. Benedict & St. John’s University (Collegeville)
- Sacred Heart Catholic Church & School (Robbinsdale)
- St. Catherine University
- St. Cloud Technical College
- St. Thomas Academy (Mendota Heights)
- Western National Insurance (Edina)
Heart Safe Partners
- Minnesota Department of Health
- American Heart Association - Minnesota
- Minnesota Ambulance Association
- Minnesota Resuscitation Consortium
- Minnesota Sudden Cardiac Arrest Survivors Network
Heart Safe Application and Materials
- Minnesota Heart Safe Communities and Campuses (PDF) 4/2022
- Heart Safe Toolkit (PDF) 1/28/2020
- Heart Safe Community Application (Word) 8/21/2019
- Heart Safe Business Application (Word) 8/21/2019
- Heart Safe Campus Application (Word) 8/21/2019
Are you providing bystander CPR training?
Please add your training numbers here and help train 10 percent of Minnesotans:
To learn more about Heart Safe Communities and how to receive technical assistance about implementing the program in your community, please contact:
American Heart Association - MN
2750 Blue Water Road
Suite 250
Eagan, MN 55121
952-278-7908
heart.safe@heart.org
For more information, contact health.heart@state.mn.us.