San Diego Project Heart Beat in downtown San Diego is the City of San Diego's Public Access Defibrillation and CPR program, managed by the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department from its 1010 Second Avenue offices since the program's launch in November 2001. The program has placed more than 11,000 automated external defibrillators across San Diego County and saved more than 220 lives, deploying AED units into city facilities, schools, and public gathering spaces including the San Diego Central Library, where SDPHB conducts Hands-Only CPR/AED workshops. Its initial goal of 250 AED placements by Super Bowl XXXVII in January 2003 was exceeded by nearly 550 units, and the program earned two 2009 national recognitions: best large-community PAD program from the International Association of Fire Chiefs and an organizational award from the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Association. SDPHB's strategic deployment model prioritizes neighborhoods with longer EMS response times and limited medical-facility access, placing units at recreation centers, transit hubs, and senior-serving sites like Senior Community Centers where cardiac-event risk is statistically elevated. A 2026 partnership with CPR1, LLC, approved by the San Diego City Council, provides $150,000 in annual corporate funding to expand AED coverage and sustain the training infrastructure that has made San Diego an internationally recognized model for community cardiac-emergency response.