American Heart Association - Advocacy Office

The American Heart Association (AHA) is a non-profit organization in the United States that fosters appropriate cardiac care in an effort to reduce disability and deaths caused by cardiovascular disease and stroke. It is headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The American Heart Association is a national voluntary health agency whose mission is: "Building healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke."

The American Heart Association publishes a standard for providing basic and advanced life support, including standards for proper performance of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). The AHA offers the most widely accepted certification for basic life support (BLS). The AHA is now also a provider of training for first aid, in addition to CPR. The AHA also operates an affiliated organization, the American Stroke Association, which focuses on care, research and prevention of strokes.

The Association's Advocacy office is dedicated to influencing the social, political, legal, research, medical and business environments to promote the association’s mission. Advocacy involves lobbying, community organization, networking, coalition building and partnerships both inside and outside the AHA. Our goal is to establish and strengthen the reputation of the AHA/ASA as a credible, nonpartisan source that public officials at all levels of government rely on for vital information about heart disease and stroke issues. Further, we want to continue to position the association to be proactive in the legislative and regulatory arenas, identifying, building support for and aggressively advocating for public policies that will most advance our strategic priorities.