For Amgen, encouraging employees to engage in CPR training is nothing new. However, in early 2023, Amgen decided to enhance its cardiac emergency response plans, embarking on a journey built on the existing programming.
At an AHA CEO Roundtable meeting, Brown issued a call to action to member companies, including Amgen, to reassess their cardiac emergency response plans and employee training programs. She encouraged company leaders to embrace the opportunity to save more lives through CPR and AEDs. Amgen swiftly and thoroughly answered that call, demonstrating company leadership’s commitment to the safety and health of employees and their family members, friends and community members, all of whom could experience a cardiac emergency requiring bystander CPR and AED use.
Amgen began offering Hands-Only CPR training to its workforce. Amgen and the AHA collaboratively determined best practices for effectively bringing Hands-Only CPR instruction to Amgen’s workforce in diverse training settings.
Since 2023, more than 600 Amgen employees were trained in Hands-Only CPR. In addition to offering Hands-Only CPR instruction at regular staff trainings, Amgen has tackled large-scale training events. For instance, according to My Lan Tran, Amgen’s director of occupational health, through logistical support from the AHA, Amgen offered that training at an annual meeting for their sales fleet. AHA staff members trained about 200 people during Amgen’s Mission Week event.
“When groups participate in Hands-Only CPR training, the experience can even serve as a valuable team-building activity, connecting the hearts and minds of our staff. It is a way for us to commit to supporting the health and safety of our staff,” Tran said. As part of Amgen’s commitment to ensuring health access and health equity for its workforce, Amgen offers Hands-Only CPR training to members of employee affinity groups (including those for women and people from under-represented racial or ethnic groups).
Senior associate Vicente Rosales participated in Amgen’s first Hands-Only CPR class. “Immediately after completing the course, I informed some of my colleagues in other departments about its importance, emphasizing that knowing CPR could potentially save a life one day,” Rosales said. “The time invested in learning CPR is worthwhile. You never know when this skill may be needed to save a life, and I am convinced that CPR is a skill everyone should possess.”
Partnering with the AHA for strategic and logistical support was simple and efficient Tran says. “There’s this great opportunity; we can act as kind of the coordinators between the AHA and our staff, to make this real for them, to bring this to life, and to put this in their hands.”
The changes to Amgen’s training and response offerings didn’t stop there. “We have actually increased the number of AEDs across our facilities,” Tran said. Furthermore, as a global company, Amgen aims to ensure that AEDs are available in their offices even for locations where the country’s regulations don’t require it. “We as a company believe that’s an important piece of lifesaving equipment,” Tran said. “Where we can, we support having those elements available within the workplace.”
Darryl Sleep, Amgen’s Head of Global Public Health, “The partnership with the American Heart Association brings to our staff the lifesaving skill of Hands-Only CPR. It helps promote and advance a culture where we actively care for our colleagues, ourselves and our community while raising awareness of cardiovascular risk.”
Editor’s Note: Nation of Lifesavers highlights efforts underway at companies in the CEO Roundtable. However, the American Heart Association does not endorse or promote products or services from Amgen or any other organization. Comments and opinions expressed in this editorial by people outside the Association do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the American Heart Association.