American Heart Association
Building Enterprise-Wide Crisis Readiness for the American Heart Association
Crisis Simulations Built for Real-World Pressure
The American Heart Association needed a cohesive crisis response across a complex network. Yes& CommCore delivered tailored crisis simulation pressure tests to strengthen preparedness, align teams, and improve response speed and consistency.
Challenge
With 156 communications and marketing staff nationwide and additional corporate and international groups, the American Heart Association sought to create a cohesive and effective crisis response across its broad network. Over the years, Yes& has delivered a mix of virtual and in-person pressure tests tailored to different groups, including local chapters, the executive board and C-suite on cybersecurity issues, national communications teams, international marketing professionals, and core data repository staff. The simulations were designed to be interactive and educational, often involving breakout sessions, graded exercises, and detailed gap analyses to help improve readiness organization-wide.
Solution
Yes& CommCore designed and executed a series of customized crisis pressure tests across various arms of the American Heart Association, including national, local, executive, and international teams. These simulations covered a range of realistic and high-stakes scenarios such as cyberattacks, misinformation from influencers, data integrity issues, and reputational threats. One notable international simulation involved a scenario where a hospital certification program was linked to a terrorism controversy. Each session was followed by a detailed gap analysis, enabling the Association staff to strengthen preparedness, improve its crisis playbook and templates, and enhance its ability to respond quickly and consistently in real-world situations.
Results
The American Heart Association is now better prepared to respond to issues across multiple levels of the organization. As a result of our work, they have continued to engage Yes& CommCore year over year, expanding the scope to new teams and regions. To date, we’ve completed six major projects, reflecting their confidence in our approach and the tangible improvements in their preparedness and internal response capabilities.
Crisis Communications Simulation
Our crisis communications simulations pressure-test your team in realistic, fast-moving scenarios—revealing gaps, improving decision-making, and building the muscle memory to respond quickly and confidently.
Takeaways
Crisis readiness improves fastest when simulations reflect an organization’s actual risks and operating realities. By pressure-testing teams across levels and regions as well as pairing each session with clear, actionable gap analyses, the American Heart Association strengthened its playbooks, templates, and internal coordination to respond faster and more consistently when it matters most.