Phoenix, AZ (February 24, 2021) February is National Heart Month and the Arizona Lottery is announcing a $25,000 Gives Back sponsorship to the American Heart Association to provide CPR instruction kits to the parents of premature newborns. These babies are especially vulnerable to COVID-19 and other life-threatening respiratory conditions.

Preterm babies commonly have respiratory challenges due to underdeveloped lungs and apnea, and congenital heart defects occur in preterm babies two to three times (12 to 20 per 1,000 live preterm births) as often as in full-term babies.

This donation will fund the purchase and delivery of 984 Infant CPR Anytime personal learning kits as, during this pandemic, Arizona hospitals have had to cease offering their face-to-face CPR and choking relief training classes to families. Each kit teaches the core skills of infant CPR and choking relief in about 20 minutes by providing bilingual (English and Spanish) instructional videos and personal inflatable mini baby CPR manikin that can be used anywhere, including at home. The kit (photo attached) includes sanitary manikin wipes and can teach an entire family these lifesaving skills. Families and caregivers can refer to the videos and manikin again whenever they need a refresher on the skills.

“The Arizona Lottery exists to do good in the community and we leap at every opportunity that we can to assist organizations across Arizona with that same mission,” said Arizona Lottery Executive Director Gregg Edgar. “These are challenging times for organizations like the American Heart Association and the Arizona Lottery saw this as an innovative way to help meet that challenge. It is so wonderful to partner with great organizations to have an impact on Arizona."