Be the Beat, the American Heart Association's online cardiac arrest awareness campaign, teaches teens the basics of CPR and AED use through video games,interactive quizzes, and songs.

Among the resources available on the site are:

* A set of instructional videos that illustrate conventional CPR with rescue breathing, Hands-Only CPR and and the use of an AED.

* A "virtual tour" through a 3-D animation of the heart. Kids can earn points by playing video games and taking interactive quizzes.

* The "World of Hearts", where users create unique avatars, track and compare their scores with others, and view profiles and testimonies of other participants.

* A downloadable playlist of 100-beat-per-minute songs (100 beats per minute is the correct rate for chest compressions during CPR).

* Free printable stickers, T-shirt decals, stationary, downloadable widgets and wallpapers.

"Be the Beat is helping to create the next generation of lifesavers by empowering teens and tweens to act when they see someone suddenly collapse," said Michael Sayre, M.D., chair of the American Heart Association's Emergency Cardiovascular Care Committee. "Sadly, far too many people are dying from cardiac arrest. We want this campaign to inspire people to help save lives."

By increasing the number of people who know proper CPR/AED - an giving them the confidence to respond in an emergency - Be the Beat will help to give more cardiac arrest victims a better chance at life.

Check it out at Be the Beat. Or, find out more about CPR and AED training.

The Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation is sponsoring a contest to raise awareness about sudden cardiac arrest and the importance of knowing how to perform CPR and use an AED.

Groups of students from any elementary school, middle school, secondary school, or college can enter the contest. Each team will write, film, star in and edit a short video promoting the importance of knowing how to do CPR and use an AED.

Finalists for all categories will be posted on the SCA Foundation's website and its YouTube Channel and promoted to schools nationwide. Five schools will win an AED; the first place winner will also receive a Nintendo Wii game system in addition to the AED.

Entries are due October 26th, 2009.

To learn more about the contest, visit http://www.sca-aware.org/schools/back-to-school-video-contest-win-an-aed-for-your-school.

To learn more about AED training, visit http://www.emergencycareny.com/heartbeat.html.

Atlanta, Georgia -- This September, for the second consecutive year, freshman orientation at Emory University in Georgia included an unusual offering: CPR training.

Last year, Emory's student-run Emergency Medical Services trained more than 700 incoming freshmen in the basics of CPR. This year, they reached about 1,100 students. The school hopes to have every one of its 12,000 students trained in basic lifesaving techniques in the next few years.

The hour-long course taught students basic CPR techniques, using dummies donated by the American Heart Association for hands-on practice . Students also learned AED usage techniques and the steps involved in activating an emergency response.

"Our goal is to make Emory the first university to have all of its students trained in the basics of CPR. We want to make the student population realize that they can make a difference too, and can learn the minimum skills to save a person's life," said Alexandra Amaducci, chief of Emory EMS and a senior majoring in neuroscience. "We also want to create awareness that we exist and make students feel comfortable about calling on Emory EMS when they need us."

The EMS squad gets five or six calls each year for people having heart attacks or other cardiac problems on campus, she said.

Health officials and university administrators say having a concentration of students trained in CPR means anyone who has a heart attack while wandering through campus has a greater chance of surviving. Starting CPR just after a heart attack, even before paramedics arrive, can greatly increase the odds of survival.

For more information about CPR, First Aid, and BLS courses offered by Emergency Care Programs, visit http://www.emergencycareny.com/firstaid.html.

For more information on AED training, visit http://www.emergencycareny.com/heartbeat.html.