By Shelley and Chad Lynch
When most people think about Fenway Park, they picture baseball, cheering fans, and the iconic Green Monster.
On June 4, however, the historic ballpark became something entirely different.
Following the Red Sox game against the Baltimore Orioles, more than 400 youth athletes, coaches, educators, healthcare advocates, and community leaders stepped onto the outfield grass to learn Hands-Only CPR as part of CPR & AED Awareness Week. Hosted through a collaboration between the Red Sox Foundation and the American Heart Association, the event transformed one of the country’s most iconic sports venues into a large-scale classroom focused on one simple goal: preparing more people to save lives.
Across the outfield, CPR manikins covered the grass as participants practiced chest compressions, learned how to recognize cardiac arrest, and gained the confidence to respond during an emergency. The event was part of the American Heart Association’s Nation of Lifesavers initiative, a movement designed to expand CPR education, increase access to AEDs, and empower more bystanders to act when every second matters.
Among the volunteer instructors helping guide participants through the training were six team members from ACLS Academy.
For the Massachusetts-based healthcare education organization, the event represented something larger than a single afternoon at Fenway. It reflected a mission that has guided the organization from the very beginning.
Long before ACLS Academy became an American Heart Association Training Center, its co-founder, Dr. Shelley Lynch, experienced firsthand how quickly an ordinary day can become a medical emergency.
A nurse practitioner with extensive critical care experience, Dr. Lynch responded to a medical emergency at Logan Airport when a traveler suddenly collapsed. Drawing upon her training and clinical expertise, she stepped in to help save the individual’s life.
The experience reinforced a belief she already understood well.
Emergencies do not happen only in hospitals.
They happen in airports, schools, workplaces, restaurants, sporting events, and neighborhoods. The people present during those critical first moments may not be healthcare providers, but their actions can profoundly influence the outcome.
That belief ultimately led Hanover, Massachusetts, residents, Dr. Lynch and her husband, Chad Lynch, a retired member of the United States Coast Guard, to create ACLS Academy.
Their philosophy, “For Providers, By Providers,” reflects a commitment to practical, real-world education taught by experienced clinicians who understand what emergency situations actually look and feel like.
Today, ACLS Academy is an American Heart Association Training Center with three locations serving students throughout Greater Boston and beyond, and was recognized with an American Heart Association All-Star Award for excellence in training and education in 2025.
What began with a passion for education and emergency preparedness has grown into a mission to help create stronger, safer, and more confident communities—one student, one classroom, and one lifesaver at a time.
One of the most powerful lessons learned by the ACLS Academy team is that lifesaving education belongs everywhere.
Through an ongoing partnership with Partners in Development, ACLS Academy has spent several years helping expand CPR and Heartsaver Instructor training throughout underserved communities in the Mississippi Delta.
One participant, James “Pound” Willis, completed training to become an American Heart Association Heartsaver Instructor. Just weeks later, he was called into action when a man suddenly collapsed during a community gathering.
Without hesitation, Pound assessed the situation, directed someone to call 911, and began CPR until emergency responders arrived.
The man survived.
Closer to home, ACLS Academy recently provided Heartsaver CPR training for 24 food services staff members representing all seven schools in the Belmont Public School District.
Motivated by recent emergency situations affecting members of their community, district leaders wanted staff to feel prepared if a student, colleague, or visitor experienced a medical emergency.
Participants learned CPR, AED use, choking response protocols, and practical strategies for remaining calm during high-stress situations.
These examples represent only a small sample of ACLS Academy’s broader community outreach efforts. Beyond training thousands of healthcare professionals each year, the organization regularly works with schools, municipalities, businesses, and community organizations to expand access to lifesaving education.
Because every additional person trained strengthens the chain of survival.
The recent Fenway Park event was part of the American Heart Association’s Nation of Lifesavers initiative, a nationwide effort focused on increasing CPR awareness, expanding access to AEDs, and empowering more people to take action during cardiac emergencies. What began as a movement fueled by growing national awareness around sudden cardiac arrest has expanded through partnerships with major sports organizations, including the NFL and Major League Baseball, helping bring lifesaving education directly into communities across the country.
More than 400 participants stepped onto the field at Fenway Park to learn how to recognize cardiac arrest, call 911, and perform effective chest compressions. For many, it was their first CPR training experience.
That reality is what made the event so meaningful.
The people gathered on the outfield that afternoon were not there to become healthcare providers. They were there to learn a skill that could one day help them save a family member, coworker, teammate, friend, or complete stranger.
As participants left the field, they carried more than memories from a unique experience at Fenway Park. They left with the knowledge that they could make a difference during one of life’s most critical moments.
Some may never need to use those skills.
Others might.
And somewhere among those 400 newly trained participants may be the person who saves a life tomorrow.
That possibility is exactly what drives the Nation of Lifesavers movement and motivates organizations like ACLS Academy to continue bringing CPR education into communities across Massachusetts and beyond.
Because building a nation of lifesavers starts one person at a time.