World Restart a Heart Day Date in the current year: October 16, 2024

The European Resuscitation Council (ERC) is an international organization established in 1989, whose mission is “to preserve human life by making high quality resuscitation available to all”. One of its main areas of focus is spreading information about cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and its importance for saving lives in emergency situations.

The history of World Restart a Heart Day began back in 2012, when the European Parliament declared the European Cardiac Arrest Awareness Week. According to the statistics cited in the declaration, about 400,000 people in Europe have an out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrest every year, and over 90% of those arrests result in death.

However, timely CPR administered within 3–4 minutes of a cardiac arrest may increase the chance of survival to more than 50%. Most often, CPR is administered by bystanders before the arrival of paramedics. So the more people learn to perform CPR and actually use their skills in emergency situations, the lower the death rate from sudden cardiac arrest will be.

World Restart a Heart Day was originally inaugurated as European Restart a Heart Day, but now it is observed all around the world. On October 16 every year, ERC member states organize free workshops where anyone can learn to perform CPR and use an automated external defibrillator (AED). These workshops, as well as other World Restart a Heart Day events, receive informational and practical support from numerous healthcare organizations, including the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.