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South Dakota Department of Health
South Dakota Department of Health

Diseases

Cardiac Ready Communities

South Dakota Cardiac Ready Community Logo with hands holding a heartDuring a cardiac emergency, every second...every minute that passes without CPR or AED use can mean the difference between life and death. It can take the ambulance 30 minutes to respond in South Dakota's more remote areas.

The Cardiac Ready Community (CRC) Program helps educate, equip, and empower local community members to be better prepared and more confident in helping someone experiencing a cardiac event before the ambulance arrives. Start the conversation in your community and help assemble a CRC Team! 

The CRC Team works together to create a system of care where community members, city officials, business owners, dispatchers, emergency medical services (EMS), police, fire, and hospital staff work together. 

Is your community prepared to respond to a cardiac emergency?

Map of South Dakota titled "Participating Communities" for the South Dakota Cardiac Ready Community program. Red heart icons identify designated Cardiac Ready Communities and blue heart icons identify communities working toward designation. Designated communities include Newell, Rapid City, Iroquois, De Smet, Kimball, Plankinton, Mitchell, Armour, Viborg, and Vermillion. Communities in progress include Lemmon, Herreid, Mobridge, Webster, Lake Norden, Castlewood, Estelline, Clear Lake, Cavour, Crow Creek Sioux Tribe, Murdo, Philip, Sturgis, Custer, Mitchell Technical College, Augustana University, University of South Dakota, University of Sioux Falls, Canton, and Beresford. The South Dakota Cardiac Ready Community and South Dakota Department of Health logos appear at the top, and the map notes it was updated in June 2026.

Enlarge the map of the current Cardiac Ready Communities

Designated Cardiac Ready Communities

  • Armour
  • De Smet
  • Estelline
  • Iroquois
  • Kimball
  • Mitchell
  • Newell
  • Plankinton
  • Rapid City
  • University of Sioux Falls
  • Vermillion
  • Viborg

Communities in Progress

  • Augustana University
  • Beresford
  • Canton
  • Castlewood
  • Cavour
  • Clear Lake
  • Crow Creek Sioux Tribe
  • Custer
  • Herreid
  • Lake Norden
  • Lemmon
  • Mitchell Technical College
  • Mobridge
  • Murdo
  • Philip
  • Sturgis
  • University of South Dakota
  • Webster

Program Information

The program defines what a community team must do to receive the Cardiac Ready Community Designation.

View the Cardiac Ready Communities Program Guide

Join the Program

When your community is interested in achieving the designation, submit a Letter of Intent to the SD Department of Health.

Submit a Letter of Intent

Download the Community Designation Application

Join the Cardiac Ready Campus Program!

The mission of the Cardiac Ready Campus designation is to help post-secondary campuses evaluate and enhance their readiness for cardiac events and opioid overdose.

View the Cardiac Campus Guide and submit the Letter of Intent to begin the process

Toolkit

The toolkit contains sample social media posts and accompanying graphics in a downloadable zip file.

Download the Media Toolkit

Cardiac Ready Communities: Hope

An Elk Point couple discusses the importance of being cardiac-ready after they experience a cardiac event in rural South Dakota.

Resources & Tools

EMS Assessment Resources

Content last updated: July 1, 2026. For questions, contact: