Survivor: I had a heart attack seven weeks ago. It was the middle of August. I had been training for the Twin Cities Marathon. I would consider myself healthy. I really had no idea.

Doctor 1: We know now that coronary heart disease takes decades to develop. So by the time you have a heart attack , you can be pretty well sure that the early beginnings of it occurred 20 or 30 years before that.

Doctor 2: You know really, there's never an early age to start thinking about your heart history. I have a 4 year old and a 15 month old and I already think about the food I put in their bodies and the activities they are exposed to.

Survivor: And it's not like TV where someone just goes like this and falls down. It was hours at home, days at home, before I went to the hospital.

Doctor 2: Heart health is really a complicated question but we really boil it down to four key things: exercise, diet, not smoking or exposing yourself to smoke, and also alcohol in moderation. So when we think of those four things we can really prevent a lot of heart disease.

Expert: See your family physician and learn your numbers. Learn what your cholesterol is, know what your blood pressure is, learn what your blood glucose is, talk to your doctor about quitting smoking, find out what your weight is. The key is knowing what your numbers are because then you can take action to improve your health.

Doctor 2: I've had the opportunity to say, "Wow, you're 35, and if we don't do something to change, you're on the trajectory to have a heart attack at a really young age."

Survivor: there has to be a huge life change if you realize that I have a chronic illness I will always have.

Doctor 2: What we're doing at allina now is taking a step back, getting into the community and promoting wellness and health, trying to keep people in those states, so they can enjoy their families, enjoy their daily living and stop them from ever getting sick in the first place.

Announcer: To learn more about Allina's heart services, visit us at allina.com/heart.

911 Medical Dispatcher: Allina usually answers about 200 calls per day for our service area, and at least one of those per day is usually a cardiac arrest.

Trauma Doctor: Sudden cardiac arrest strikes over 300,000 people in this country out-of-hospital, and only 5 percent survive in most communities. More people die of sudden cardiac arrest than lung cancer, breast cancer and AIDS combined. So it's a big problem.

Cub Manager: As safety manager for Cub, I'm responsible for all corporate locations, and LLC locations, ensuring safety for our customers during their shopping experience, as well as for our associates during their work day.

Survivor: One of the ladies from the bakery, Kathy was her name, she found me laying in the soap aisle.

Survivor 2: I was refereeing a boys varsity basketball game at Fridley High School and it was about 5 minutes left to go in the game, and without warning, I went down with sudden cardiac arrest.

Doctor: When the heart doesn't beat, it just quivers and vibrates, and doesn't pump any blood and you die very quickly. The use of an automated external defibulator or AED quickly can shock that heart and reset that heart and make it start beating again and save that person's life.

Fire Chief: There's a variety of AEDs out there but they're all pretty basic and designed so someone with very little training can use them.

Survivor 2: somebody grabbed an AED off the wall outside the gymnasium, they put it on me, and one shock and resuscitated me. here I am.

Survivor 1: I was dead there, on the ground. If I wouldn't have gotten some assistance within that timeframe of about 10 minutes or less I would have died.

Doctor: An AED is very simple to use. If you can remember to bring it to the patient and turn it on, the voice tells you what to do. So you turn on the device, you put the electrodes on the chest and it's very easy to see on the AED itself. You can't hurt somebody with an AED, they're already dead. So, when somebody goes down and cardiac arrests, get the AED, start CPR, call 911 and use the AED. Doing CPR on a victim is very important, and it's really easy to do now. You don't even have to do mouth-to-mouth anymore now. You put your hands in the center of the chest and push hard and fast. And if you can remember the tune Staying Alive to the Bee Gees, that's the correct beat you want to use when doing CPR.

Survivor 2: well, a lot of people are afraid to get involved with doing CPR or helping someone that goes down with sudden cardiac arrest. The simple advice I give is you have to do something. You have to respond and try and help.

Doctor: We can make a difference and help save people's lives. Heart Safe Communities is just part of that program involving our hospitals, clinics, ambulance services to bring advanced care out to our communities and save lives.

Announcer: To learn CPR or how to get an AED where you live, work or play, visit us at allina.com/heartsafe.

Announcer: Overlooking this Southern Minnesota town, stands a statue of an ancient German warrior, for generations, a source of great pride for the people of New Ulm. Today townspeople are taking pride as warriors themselves in the fight against heart disease, and they're doing it with the help of Allina Hospitals & Clinics.

Expert: What I found with the New Ulm Community is if they have a passion for something, it will succeed. And they have really considered the Heart of New Ulm their project.

Workplace Rep1: Heart of New Ulm is a lifestyle change for heart healthy living.

Doctor: Number one, don't smoke. Number two, stay active. Even if it that's 20 minutes of walking most every day. Just eating a variety of foods, especially adding some whole foods, fruits and vegetables into your diet.

Workplace Rep2: I think the greatest thing of the Heart of New Ulm has brought an awareness that we need to be healthier.

Couple: You always see something on the paper, you hear about it interacting with community members talking about it, whether their working out in the rec center, or just choosing to eat healthier, you see it on the menu here.

Grocer: Our customers are a lot more educated through all the programs Heart of New Ulm does.

Dietician: So often in a small town, people will say, "Well you know, we're out here, we don't have access." And showing them that in our grocery stores, our grocers work hard, and actually have the great fruits and vegetables all year long. And you know, letting people know that you can be on a budget, be in New Ulm, and still be heart healthy.

Friends: Whether they're making changes or not, I think everyone's aware of their activity levels, what they're eating, things such as that. I think businesses are more aware of it and they're promoting and doing things.

Expert: Because employees do spend so much time at work, the goal is for them to have every access to health that they can. Changing the work site culture, so perhaps they have a healthy food policy, or a tobacco free worksite.

President: We've seen that when we're able to do that, we can reduce the risk factors for developing heart disease, ultimately reduce having heart attacks in the community, and we're starting to see signs of that already.

Doctor: The data showed that there was a 24 percent drop in the rate of heart attacks, which is an amazing change in a short period of time.

Workplace Rep 1: It's important because it will help cut costs on hopefully our health insurance, if our staff is healthier.

Workplace Rep 3: Many of our employees mentioned to the health coach that they've lost weight or changed behaviors within their everyday lifestyle, simply because of the changes we've made at the worksite.

Community member: I've lost 80 pounds and am now inspiring, motivating other people to do the same thing. I've been in their shoes.

Community leader: This thing that's happening in New Ulm isn't happening in a lot of other places. And a corporation took the time and thought it through and said "Let's try this in New Ulm and see how it works." A large percentage thinks this is a great thing and is appreciative of the fact that someone is taking the time to go over, born and beyond to give us a push here so we can live longer and healthier.

Doctor: Think of all the things your heart does for you. At Allina, we help you care for your heart. Like helping you understand your personal risk for heart disease and taking care of you if something serious happens. Your heart is important to you. It's important to us, too.

Announcer: To learn more about Allina's heart services in your community, visit us at allina.com/heart.