Project Heart 2025: Building a Heart Safe Sports Community in Singapore

• Project Heart is SHF’s flagship CPR+AED mass certification training event, which empowers Singapore’s residents with vital life-saving skills to respond effectively to a cardiac emergency.
• This year’s event focused on encouraging members of the sports community to be equipped with CPR and AED skills, and it featured a lineup of advocates among Singapore’s professional athletes, such as legendary former national goalkeeper, Hassan Sunny; national long-distance runner, Vanessa Lee; and Paralympic national archer, Nur Syahidah Binte Alim. The event also celebrated the recipients of the Survivor Awards Singapore.
• Close to 800 participants were trained and officially certified in CPR+AED skills at the event, which enabled more members of the public to respond to out-of-hospital cardiac arrest cases in Singapore through immediate community intervention.
• Ahead of Project Heart 2025, close to 300 World Restart a Heart Day CPR-AED satellite training sessions were organised over a six-week period, with over 8,000 participants trained.

Singapore, 11 October 2025 – In Singapore, more than 3,600 people experience Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest (OHCA) every year, and timely intervention is key to prevent the loss of precious lives. To empower more Singapore residents with the crucial skills to save lives, with a focus on the sports community, the Singapore Heart Foundation (SHF) held its annual Project Heart 2025 event at the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) College West’s Indoor Sports Hall today. Since 2012, SHF has been holding this event for 14 years running, together with co-organisers, Singapore Resuscitation and First Aid Council (SRFAC) and the Unit for Pre-hospital Emergency Care (UPEC).

Held in conjunction with the World Restart A Heart Day and in commemoration of SHF’s 55th anniversary, the event was graced by Guest of Honour, Mr Cai Yinzhou, Member of Parliament for the Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC and an active Community First Responder (CFR). Themed “Game On, Heart Strong”, Project Heart 2025 featured a mass Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and Automated External Defibrillator (AED) certification training, and cast the spotlight on the greater risk of Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) among sports participants and the importance of equipping members of the sports community with these life-saving skills to get each other’s backs in a cardiac emergency.

“Project Heart represents our unwavering commitment to building a nation where every citizen possesses the confidence and capability to save a life,” said Clinical Associate Professor Ching Chi Keong, Honorary Secretary of SHF and a Senior Consultant at the National Heart Centre Singapore (NHCS). “With cardiac arrests claiming hearts at an alarming rate, Project Heart serves as our nation’s foremost platform for community preparedness. Through Project Heart 2025’s focus on the sports community, we hope to emphasise the importance of having every sports enthusiast trained in CPR and AED skills, so that everyone will be able to step up to save a life.”

Project Heart offers a comprehensive CPR+AED certification course suitable for participants of all ages through structured learning modules covering CPR and AED skills. Upon completion of the course, participants will obtain a two-year CPR+AED certification card, making them part of Singapore’s growing network of CFRs through the myResponder mobile application. The application alerts CFRs to SCA cases near them while locating the nearest publicly accessible AED — this enables CFRs and bystanders with the ability to deliver timely aid to save a life.

National Athletes Step Forward as CPR+AED Advocates

With the event’s theme revolving around equipping the sports community with CPR and AED skills, Project Heart 2025 also won the hearts of various Singapore national athletes to join the league of SHF to promote the learning of resuscitation skills. These include Singapore’s legendary former national goalkeeper Hassan Sunny; national long-distance runner, Vanessa Lee; as well as Paralympic archer, Nur Syahidah Binte Alim.

“When it comes to saving lives, I’m ready to step in as a responsible sportsman, always prepared to save a life when the need arises,” said Hassan Sunny, former Singapore national goalkeeper and a member of the Albirex Niigata Singapore Football Club. Calling upon the sports community to take up essential life-saving skills, he added: “Learning CPR and AED skills can make a difference between life and death. Let’s all be ready to save a life, knowing others can save ours too!”

National long-distance runner, Vanessa Lee, echoed his views. She expressed: “In the professional sports world, where athletes push their limits to break records, the risk of a cardiac emergency is real. Amateur sports participants who push themselves hard may face the same risk too — especially those with hidden health conditions. That’s why I believe that everyone should take up CPR and AED skills, so that we can count on each other when an emergency happens.”

Inspired by the CPR and AED skills she recently learnt, Paralympic national archer, Nur Syahidah Binte Alim, opined: “Early intervention saves lives. In sports, knowing CPR and how to use an AED are a real-life superpower — you could save a life when it matters most!”

Through these athlete advocates, SHF hopes to emphasise the importance of the preparedness to save lives in the sports community in Singapore.

A Collaborative Effort to Equip the Public with Life-Saving Skills

Project Heart 2025 is a collaboration between SHF and multiple organisations such as SRFAC, UPEC, ITE, the Singapore Red Cross, St John Singapore, Team Singapore, ActiveSG, Team Nila, among others —reflecting a whole-of-society effort to strengthen resuscitation preparedness. From hosting the mass CPR+AED training and ensuring national resuscitation standards, to contributing first aid expertise and mobilising volunteers, each partner played a vital role in building more resilient hearts in Singapore.

The event saw around 120 volunteer instructors and Chief Instructors from various organisations, including SHF, the Singapore Red Cross, St John Singapore, all public hospitals, tertiary educational institutions and the Ministry of Defence, among others, teaching at a total of 110 CPR+AED stations and certifying close to 800 participants.

Before Project Heart began, SHF partnered with various organisations to organise almost 300 World Restart a Heart Day CPR-AED satellite training sessions over a six-week period, equipping over 8,000 participants with life-saving skills.

Celebrating Life-Saving Heroes in Our Community

One of Project Heart 2025’s highlights was the Survivor Awards Singapore ceremony. This is an annual award ceremony that features real-life testimonies of those who survived cardiac arrest due to the timely intervention of CPR and AED and celebrates those who stepped forward bravely to save a life.

One such survivor was Mr Chung Fook Mun, a former member of the Sheares Old Boys Football Association (SOFA), who collapsed after a football match and was saved by his friends and a pair of veterinarians who happened to be nearby. With the timely intervention of CPR and AED, Mr Chung survived two cardiac arrests.

After spending 30 years with SOFA, Mr Chung hung up his football boots and became an active advocate for CPR+AED training. He is currently a member of the Cardiac Arrest Survivors’ Club (CASC), a peer-led support group spearheaded by SHF, Duke-NUS Medical School, UPEC, SingHealth and the Singapore Civil Defence Force. At the CASC, survivors and caregivers provide peer support to one another through regular activities, including discussions, nature walks and meals, among others. Mr Chung’s resolve also inspired other SOFA teammates, who decided to also learn CPR and AED skills with SHF to be better prepared for any future emergency.

“We took up the CPR and AED course with SHF to equip ourselves with the critical knowledge and skillsets required to respond effectively in emergency situations,” shared Mr Chung. “With these skills, we can provide casualties with the best possible chance of survival.”

The recognition ceremony also honoured other emergency responders and CFRs who exemplified how bystanders can make a significant difference between life and death during a cardiac emergency.

Building a Heart Safe Singapore

Over the past decade, Singapore’s bystander CPR rates have risen from 20% to close to 60%. This demonstrates the power of community action in combating cardiac emergencies.

In 2021, nearly six in 10 SCA casualties received bystander CPR, but only less than 10% of the bystander rescuers used an AED. Immediate CPR, combined with the use of an AED, can double or even triple a cardiac arrest casualty’s chance of survival — contributing to an increasingly Heart Safe Singapore. That is what SHF hopes to achieve in collaboration with its partners, volunteers and trained participants.

For more information about Project Heart 2025, please visit: https://www.myheart.org.sg/project-heart.