PHOENIX — Governor Doug Ducey today invested $400,000 to provide local neonatal intensive care units with CPR training kits.

“Arizona is committed to protecting our residents at every stage of their life, and especially at their most vulnerable ages,” said Governor Ducey. “These CPR kits will be crucial in helping train new parents to care for their child in an emergency until emergency medical services arrive. The American Heart Association’s mission is to be a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives. We in Arizona will be relentless in ensuring we provide our families with the necessary tools to keep their child healthy.”

Governor Ducey’s $400,000 investment will go to the American Heart Association (AHA), who will collaborate with neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) in Maricopa County hospitals to reach 5,000 families annually with Infant CPR Anytime Kits. Funding comes from the American Rescue Plan Act.

The Infant CPR Anytime Kits have all the tools needed to teach parents CPR and infant choking relief in about 20 minutes. The kits will be used by NICUs to teach CPR skills to new parents and allow nursing staff to closely care for infants.

The AHA is the nation’s oldest and largest voluntary organization dedicated to fighting heart disease and strokes. The AHA has invested more than $4.8 billion in research, making them the largest not-for-profit funding source for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease research next to the federal government. 

“This is an important step in protecting Arizona’s babies and benefits both parents and their children,” said American Heart Association Executive Director Debra Wilson. “I’d like to thank Governor Ducey for his generous investment in the next generation of Arizonans.”

Approximately one out of every 10 babies is born premature and goes to a NICU for various health reasons. Maricopa County alone sees over 4,800 premature births a year.

###