We know that the healthiest communities are the ones that are prepared to help themselves. When both Buffalo and and Pittsburgh saw a hometown player turned current NFLer, Damar Hamlin, almost lose his life, it ignited a spark to make sure that if the same crisis happened at a local level, the communities that we serve would be ready to respond. Through our activation "Lead the Charge" at a Pittsburgh Pirates game, Highmark Health raised awareness of the need, the number of people seeking certification, and the availability of emergency devices throughout our communities. Being a healthcare company that owns the naming rights to the Buffalo Bills stadium, our team knew we had to jump on this opportunity when the topic was top of mind for most Americans.
In response, we wanted to reinforce Highmark Health and Allegheny Health Network's deep community connections with a fun event that informed, educated, and equipped our neighbors to know how to step in and save lives. The unique design solution generated by myself and my teammates on the Brand Experience Incubator team was to build bicycles that participants could ride to see the power they were generating converted into the charge needed to restart a heart via an AED. Event swag also included wallet sized cards for a CPR checklist of instructions and a heart-shaped stress ball that would help mimic the amount of pressure needed to do chest compressions during CPR.
