February is one of my favorite months because it's the American Heart Association's (AHA) National Heart Month. This past Heart Month has been extra special to me because of several recent events and opportunities I have been able to take part in. Today I want to share more about those events with you as the month has come to and end.
Miss America is going Red for Women
The Miss America Organization recently announced their partnership with the American Heart Association to advocate for women's heart health. When I say I literally screamed when I saw this announcement, I'm not joking. Mostly within the past year but also since I started working as a life guard in high school, I have been advocating for the American Heart Association and CPR. It has brought me so much happiness seeing that the very thing I am so passionate about will be spread to many others across our country through the very organization that has helped be be an advocate for it. Apart from the MAO announcing their partnership with AHA, they also announced of the return of the fitness and wellness portion of the competition which will be sponsored by Rebel Athletics. I'm so excited for this new area of competition to be able to show others how I stay heart healthy.
Damar Hamlin's #3forHeart CPR Challenge
As many of you may know, football player Damar Hamlin recently had his life saved through the power CPR on the field during a televised game. This was a huge eye opener to many individuals across the country about the importance of being CPR prepared as they learned that medical emergencies can happen to anyone. For Heart Month, Damar Hamlin announced his partnership with the AHA and his #3forHeart CPR Challenge. The challenge consists of 1) visiting heart.org/3 to watch a short video to learn hands only CPR; 2) donating to the AHA to fund CPR education and training, other lifesaving programs, and scientific research; and 3) sharing your support by posting a picture with heart hands and challenge/tag three friends to do the same.
Heart Playlist
I am so excited to share something that I have been working on for a while now. I have created an Apple Music playlist of songs to practice your CPR tempo to. The playlist also has some great songs that are just fun to listen to and a great way to say focused on Heart Month and CPR even though heart month is over. Check it out below!
Spin for Heart Month Event
I was so excited to be able to host my first ever fundraising event for the American Heart Association this month. Thanks to C-Cycle house in Spanish Fork, Utah and Miss Deseret, Ryleigh Paulin, I was able to raise money for the AHA. Ryleigh was so generous to be willing to teach a rhythm based spin cycling class for those who came and donated and everyone had a blast. It was so fun and I appreciate everyone who came, participated, and donated to this awesome cause. If you missed this event, don't worry there will definitely be more new events in the future to look forward to. So stay on the look out!
Advocacy in Daily Life
Advocating for CPR is something I'm constantly doing, however I had a few extra and unique experiences over Heart Month this year. I was fortunate enough to have a clinical rotation for school on the cardiology floor of the hospital and had so many eye opening and learning experiences during my time there. I was able to talk to many nurses about their thoughts of CPR importance and how it has benefited them in their careers. I was able to also sit down with families of various patients to learn about their experience and thoughts about CPR. I was able to share with them journey in advocacy and it was so empowering. It was confirming to know that there are so many people out there especially in the medical field who are heavily advocating for heart health and CPR awareness.
Secondly, I began something new this Heart Month. I made it a goal to wear my AHA logo pin to work and school everyday and this is something I plan to continue doing. Being able to wear red everyday to support the AHA is something I am so proud to do and want to do for the rest of my nursing career and schooling.
What Can You Do?
Weather you're a titleholder or just a supporter of the MAO challenge, anyone who reads this should participate in Damar Hamlin's #3forHeart CPR challenge. If your more interest in learning CPR hands-on and in person please contact me. I frequently teach CPR classes in my community and would love to help you too. Also, give my playlist a listen and practice that tempo for your CPR so you can be prepared. As the founder of the Red Heart Project, I am currently in the works of creating more fun events for you to attend so be sure to stay tuned on my social media Instagram @shaye.johnson and @theredheartproject. If you are still interested in donating to our Spin for Heart Month fundraiser visit my most recent post on either of the social media accounts listed above or click the link below to donate. You can also Venmo @shayejohnson with the memo "❤️" to donate as well. Every dollar helps and no donation is too small! Lastly, even though Heart Month is coming to and end that doesn't mean heart awareness should come to an end too. Be sure to continuing following along for more events, social media post, and blog post about my journey in CPR advocacy.
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