Impact Update Q2 2025
Aime chose the University Teaching Hospital of Kigali for a safe delivery, with her mother by her side. When baby Alia was born not breathing, midwife Dorcas, trained through the 50,000 Happy Birthdays project, acted swiftly. Thanks to her expertise, they soon heard Alia’s first cry.
In 2020, we set an ambitious goal: Helping save one million more lives. Every year. By 2030.
The word helping matters. We do not save lives - first responders, midwives, nurses, doctors, and bystanders who act to save lives do. Our role is to support those who train and equip them to do it even better.
We are pleased to share some highlights from our progress, such as the Safer Births Bundle of Care program, which has achieved remarkable reductions in maternal and newborn mortality in Tanzania and now is being introduced into other countries.
Challenges persist with global health funding under pressure and progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals lagging. However, we remain hopeful because, backed by the evidence of global research, it is known what works. Our focus now is on helping implementation of these proven, cost-effective solutions through strong partnerships and integrating them into health systems for lasting impact.
To our partners and colleagues - thank you. Your dedication is saving lives every day. We’re proud to support your efforts.
Together, we are making progress towards helping save one million more lives, every year, by 2030.
Ingrid Lærdal, Chief Impact Officer Tore Lærdal, Executive Chairman
Our goal is to help save one million lives, every year, by 2030. It is guided by UN Sustainable Development Goal 3: Good Health and Well-being. We are focusing on improving quality in healthcare and reducing the around 30 million preventable deaths that occur each year from sudden cardiac arrest, trauma, complications at birth, sepsis, and stroke.
Traditionally, emergency responses to these time-critical conditions have been managed separately. We believe that by adopting a more integrated approach— aligning healthcare response systems - outcomes can be improved and more lives can be saved.
Together with our partners, we are developing and implementing programs with the potential for long-term impact. Our focus in not only on the number of lives saved, but also on the quality of the life-years gained.
Increasing survival in the community
Gamified and digital CPR training solutions have helped train more than 15 million bystanders. At the UEFA Football Championship 2024, 200,000 football fans took part in CPR competitions - a concept now expanding to other major sporting events.
Improving quality in health care
Over 2 million providers maintain CPR skills through the Resuscitation Quality Improvement (RQI) program contributing to an estimated 8,000 lives saved annually. New simulation tools are helping advance care at birth and in-situ simulation for systemlevel quality improvement.
Saving Lives at Birth
The Safer Births Bundle of Care in Tanzania has resulted in a 40% reduction in early newborn deaths and a remarkable 75% drop in maternal deaths. If widely scaled, this program alone has the potential to save 200,000 more lives, every year.
Strengthening acute care in low-resource settings
The World Health Organization’s Basic Emergency Care (BEC) program has shown up to a 50% reduction in deaths from sepsis and trauma. We have pledged support to WHO to scale BEC –aiming to help save 50,000 more lives annually over the next three years.
This report also highlights the work of the Laerdal Foundation and the Million Lives Fund towards the One Million Lives goal.
We estimate the programs described in this report and on the One Million Lives website have helped save approximately 300,000 more lives every year. If well-scaled and sustained, we estimate 700-900,000 more lives can be saved by 2030 relative to our 2019 baseline.
Royal Mail employee Imran Badin saved a colleague’s life after a cardiac arrest. Thanks to recent CPR training, he quickly administered CPR and used a defibrillator until paramedics arrived. Months later, they reunited by chance, a moment made possible by Imran’s swift actions.
The challenge
Every year, an estimated 23 million people die from time-critical emergencies that start in the community.
The opportunity
The greatest potential for saving more lives lies in strengthening the first two links of the chain of survival: ensuring bystanders quickly activate emergency systems, and empowering dispatchers to guide those bystanders effectively until professional help arrives.
There are also tremendous opportunities to save more lives by learning from the EMS systems that have the best survival rates in the world –unpacking their “formula for success” and helping other EMS systems around the world to improve.
The biggest opportunity to save more lives lies in optimizing the first two links in the chain of survival
million trained
Bystander CPR is one of the most critical factors in increasing survival from out-ofhospital cardiac arrest. But it’s not just about the number of people trained — it’s also about how well they perform CPR and how effectively they coordinate with emergency dispatchers when every second counts.
Smarter tools for better instructor-led CPR training
Since 2020, Laerdal has introduced several CPR training solutions to help instructors deliver more effective and engaging sessions. These tools offer realtime feedback on CPR quality and use gamified learning to boost skill retention and training efficiency. Despite pandemic-related disruptions, over 15 million bystanders have been trained using these enhanced tools.
Reaching further with digital and gamified solutions
To reach even more people, we have launched a range of digital and gamified CPR training options. One example is RevivR, developed with the British Heart Foundation — a free app that teaches CPR and AED use in just 15 minutes. Using a smartphone and a cushion or manikin, learners receive real-time feedback via the phone’s camera. It now also includes an AI-powered emergency call simulation, helping users practice speaking with a virtual dispatcher. Over 500,000 people have completed the training so far.
We have also partnered with the American Heart Association to launch Heartsaver Direct — a self-service CPR solution for the workplace. By making training more accessible and cost-effective, it holds strong potential to grow the number of trained bystanders in the years ahead.
Heartsaver Directto help scale up CPR and first aid training in the workplace.
At UEFA European Football Championships 2024, Laerdal partnered with UEFA and the European Resuscitation Council (ERC) to bring CPR training to fans. Across 10 fan zones, 55,000 people took part in 5-minute CPR sessions using Laerdal’s interactive manikins and customized CPR competition — averaging an 87% performance score. With digital outreach, the campaign reached over 200,000 people.
Described by the ERC and UEFA as a campaign that “redefined how CPR training can be made accessible, engaging, and relevant, setting a new standard for integrating public health into cultural events.”1 UEFA now plans to expand the initiative to the Women’s EURO 2025 and local club communities.
It’s been fantastic to see the engagement from fans and players! We are committed to expanding the impact of this long-term and will be doing more events in 2025!
Zoran Bahtijarević, Chief Medical Officer, UEFA
200,000
football fans trained
increase in survival Explore more at globalresuscitationalliance.org
10 steps for improved survival
Survival after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest varies widely — even within the same country. While some emergency medical systems (EMS) report over 30% survival, others see near-zero.
To close this gap, the Global Resuscitation Alliance (GRA) was established in 2015 to identify and promote the most effective strategies for improving survival. Its 10 evidence-based best practices are now being adopted by EMS systems worldwide. More than 100 case studies on the GRA website showcase successful local implementation.
Improving survival
When implemented effectively, the 10 steps can lead to a 50% or greater increase in survival — even in high-performing systems- with the most rapid progress in Denmark2
Developing high-performance teams
High-performance CPR is one of the GRA’s 10 key steps to improve survival. In partnership with the Resuscitation Academy in Seattle, USA, we have supported simulation-based workshops and equipped local leaders—doubling the number of professional responders trained to implement high-performance CPR in their communities.
Expanding global impact and clinical scope
The GRA model has inspired similar 10-step initiatives for other time-critical conditions—including stroke (2018), pediatric (2022), in-hospital adult (2024), and newborn (2024) cardiac arrest. A sepsis framework is planned for launch in 2025. Since 2024, the GRA has also expanded into China and India - with plans underway for further expansion into low-resource settings.
In India, the survival rate from out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrest is less than 1%. Through the Resuscitation Academy, we aim to build a strong chain of survival and improve patient outcomes.
Ramano
Rao, Medical Director EMRI India
The new MamaAnne birthing simulator is helping enhance education and in-hospital teamwork for safer births and better care.
The challenge
To achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3 - Good health and well-being for allthe world needs an additional 10 million health workers by 20303. But the problem isn’t just about numbers. Today, more people die from poor-quality care than from lack of access. Improving the quality of care is essential to saving lives4
The opportunity
Simulation-based training is a proven way to strengthen both individual skills and system performance in hospital settings. It provides a safe, effective way to assess and improve care - without putting patients at risk.
To achieve lasting impact, we must also scale training for future providers. Simulation supports competency-based education and can help expand training capacity to meet growing global health needs.
To save more lives, gaps in both quality and coverage must be addressed
The updated Circle of Learning reflects simulation’s potential to drive healthcare quality improvement
8,000 more lives estimated saved per year
Each year, approximately 300,0005 in-hospital cardiac arrests occur in the United States. Fewer than 1 in 4 patients survive—and outcomes vary dramatically, from under 10% in low-performing hospitals to nearly 40% in the best. Research6 has identified three key practices consistently linked to higher survival rates: frequent case reviews, monitoring to minimize interruptions in chest compressions, and ongoing assessment of CPR training effectiveness.
To help close this gap, Laerdal and the American Heart Association formed RQI Partners in 2018 to accelerate adoption of the Resuscitation Quality Improvement (RQI) program by hospitals and systems. RQI is an innovative digital training solution built around the concept of self-directed, low-dose, high-frequency CPR training to drive lasting competence.
As of 2025, over 2 million healthcare professionals across the U.S. are enrolled in RQI - with an estimated 8,000 more lives saved per year based on the experience of early adopters.
In 2021, RQI for NRP (Neonatal Resuscitation Program) was created together with the American Academy of Pediatrics. This quarterly, self-directed program focuses on maintaining competence in positive pressure ventilation - the most critical intervention for newborns needing resuscitation.
To date, nearly 50,000 providers have enrolled in RQI for NPR. Data show that, immediately after completing a single session, providers improved ventilation performance by 54% and 80% on T-piece and self-inflating bag.
In 2021, Laerdal joined forces with the National League for Nursing to bring RQI into U.S. nursing education. Today, more than 26,000 nursing students are pioneering competency-based resuscitation training, ensuring that graduates enter clinical practice with the skills to save lives from day one.
It’s the idea that my employees get to touch, see and perform high-quality CPR every three months - regardless of their schedule, when they’re working, or which patients they’re treating. Their ability to maintain mastery and proficiency, for me, is what sells this program.
Michael Kurz, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, UAB Hospital
Health workers complete short training modules each quarter and receive performance feedback.
Data show high performance scores - that even improve over time.
2,000
new simulation facilitators trained
The urgent global demand for more health workers is challenged by faculty shortages and limited clinical placements. At the same time, education is shifting toward competency-based models focused on what students can do - not just what they are taught.
Laerdal supports this shift with solutions that help institutions assess and verify clinical skills, even in low-resource settings. SimCapture enables independent practice with real-time faculty insight. Tools like vSim for Nursing and vrClinicals support learning from acquisition to competency.
Scaling simulation also requires trained facilitators. In partnership with SAFER, we launched SimBegin - an entry-level training program for educators in all income settings. Since 2023, it has prepared over 2,000 educators to plan, run, and debrief simulations effectively.
To further support the transition, we co-developed toolkits for how to use simulation for competency-based education with the American Association of Colleges of Nursing and the National League for Nursing.
Photo below: Paul is a highly realistic, high-emotion preterm newborn simulator originally developed by SIMCharacters - a company Laerdal acquired in 2025 to help scale this innovative training tool globally.
Birth remains one of healthcare’s most critical moments. Many maternal and newborn deaths are preventable - even in high-resource settings. Simulation helps teams prepare to act quickly and effectively when it matters most.
In 2024, we launched MamaAnne and Paul - advanced simulators for birthing and premature newborn care. Now in use worldwide, they strengthen emergency response, team coordination, and clinical decision-making—leading to better outcomes for mothers and newborns.
In our complex and adaptive healthcare systems, simulation is increasingly being used as a method for problem solving and co-design, channeling perspectives of staff and patients into improvement processes. Laerdal is working with partners to scale this approach:
• In the U.S., the Accelerate program delivers simulators, operators, and expert scenarios directly to hospitals—eliminating the need for in-house resources. Thousands of clinicians have trained through this model, with real-world saves reported.
• To promote the adoption of translational simulation practices, we have partnered with Dr Victoria Brazil (Bond University, Australia) to develop a “Sim to Improve”-program. The program will bundle faculty development with supportive tools for planning, data capturing and reporting, empowering the use simulation to improve teams and systems of care.
The training of individuals and teams is necessary for improved patient safety and outcomes, but not sufficient.
Victoria Brazil, Professor of Emergency Medicine and Medical Director of the Simulation Service
When Tabu was brought to the hospital in Tanzania, she was suffering post-partum hemorrhage, the leading cause of maternal death. The midwife who received Tabu had been trained in the Safer Births program and knew what to do. Tabu survived.
The challenge
Each year, nearly 260,000 mothers and 2.3 million newborns die due to childbirth complications such as postpartum hemorrhage, birth asphyxia, and the challenges faced by small or sick babies. Another 1.2 million babies are fresh stillbirths with over 40% occurring during labour.7&8
The vast majority - over 95 % - of deaths occur in low-income countries where gaps in training, equipment, and quality of care cost lives.
The opportunity
According to UNICEF and WHO, 2.9 million lives could be saved annually by 2030 with improved access to quality care. More than half of these, 1.7 million, could be neonatal lives. This doesn’t require new inventions: it can be achieved by the implementation of proven, cost-effective interventions and a systematic approach to ensure quality care at every facility.9
The biggest opportunities to save more mothers and newborns are on the day of birth.
Safer Births is a global research and development collaboration which has resulted in more than 40 PhDs and 150 published papers.
Based on a decade of research, collaboration, and iterations, the Safer Births Bundle of Care (SBBC) is a program that was developed to train and equip healthcare workers to address the leading causes of maternal and newborn deaths. It integrates innovative training and clinical tools and a system for continuous quality improvement, with a focus on building a sustainable and scalable program.
In 2025, the New England Journal of Medicine published the results of a large study across 30 hospitals in Tanzania, tracking nearly 300,000 mother–baby pairs. After implementation of SBBC, results showed a 40% reduction in early newborn deaths and a remarkable 75% reduction in maternal deaths.
I am proud that Tanzania was the first country to adopt and scale Safer Births Bundle of Care and we are seeing the results. Thousands of lives are being saved annually.
Jenista Mhagama (Mb), Minister of Health, Tanzania
Worksite, low-dose, highfrequency training for individuals and teams is a core element of the program.
Scaling in Tanzania and beyond SBBC is currently being implemented in 150 healthcare facilities across Tanzania, reaching more than 280,000 births annually. Plans for national scale-up are underway.
The program has also been launched in Nigeria, with discussions ongoing for implementation in Ethiopia. If widely scaled, SBBC has the potential to save an additional 200,000 lives each year.
Neonatal death within the first 24 hours after birth 7-day maternal death per 100,000 births
Colored dotted lines mark start of implementation in the different sites.
* Kamala, B.A.. and Ersdal, H. L et al. (2025) Outcomes of a Program to Reduce Birth-Related Mortality n Tanzania. Available at http://www.nejm.org (Accessed: 27 February 2025)
200,000 lives could be saved every year if scaled globally
40% reduction in early newborn deaths
75% reduction in maternal deaths
From 240 to 60 deaths for every 100,000 births
Explore the NEJM study and the program at saferbirths.com
Midwifery students practice postpartum-IUCD insertion in Nepal
It is estimated that investing in midwifery-led care could prevent two-thirds of maternal and newborn deaths, saving 4.3 million lives each year by 2035.11 However, many countries face a shortage of trained educators, limited clinical sites, and inadequate hands-on training.
Competency-based education is key
As a member of the Alliance to Improve Midwifery Education (AIME), we collaborate with the WHO, the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM), UNFPA, UNICEF, and others to develop training tools, set global midwifery standards, generate evidence, and advocate for systemic change.
Midwives save lives, and quality education is essential. The new global standards for midwifery faculty mark a vital step in expanding high-quality midwifery education worldwide.
Anna of Ugglas, Chief Executive Officer, International Confederation of Midwives
Key national programs we support
We work together with partners to support midwifery education through projects including:
In Nepal, collaboration with the Family Welfare Division at the Ministry of Health and Population and partners on the national scale-up of competency-based midwifery education.
In Tanzania, development of simulation program guidelines with the government and midwifery associations.
In Rwanda, advancing faculty development through the SimBegin course for 100 faculty at 11 midwifery schools.
In India, support of the government initiative to train 86,000 more midwives.
In Nigeria, funded by the Gates Foundation and implemented by the Nursing and Midwifery Council, helping to assess needs, establish simulation labs, and integrate skills training in 20 midwifery schools across 11 states over three years.
4.3million
mothers and newborns could be saved every year
Baby Meskerem was born weighing just 1100 grams. Her father, Abebe Haile, feared she might not survive. His wife, Mulunesh, had gone through eight pregnancies - but only three babies had survived. While Mulunesh recovered from a cesarean section, healthcare workers showed Abebe how to care for his newborn using Kangaroo Mother Care - keeping her skin-to-skin, fed, and warm. He held her this way for at least six hours each day and night. It worked. Today, Meskerem is healthy and thriving.
Saving those most vulnerable
Of the 2.3 million newborns who die each year, about 80% are low birth weight and nearly two-thirds are born prematurely.12 In Ethiopia, 90% of neonatal deaths are due to infection, asphyxia, or prematurity.
What is Saving Little Lives?
The Saving Little Lives (SLL) program was developed to save the lives of small and sick newborns by improving care at birth and in the critical first days. Among several interventions, it includes skin-to-skin Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) and essential care for newborns at birth.
Scaling up across Ethiopia
Since 2021, we have supported SLL in Ethiopia, aiming to reduce newborn mortality by 35%. The program has expanded lifesaving care across 290 hospitals, reaching 85% of the population.
SLL also serves as a platform for synergistic programs and research such as NEST360, which aims to improve care in neonatal ICUs, and innovations from the Safer Births Bundle of Care aimed at lifesaving care on the day of birth.
Several participating hospitals are now also implementing immediate KMC, an intervention the WHO estimates could further improve survival by up to 40% and save hundreds of thousands of additional lives globally.13
In the past, we rarely saw babies born before 30 weeks survive. However, since implementing the Saving Little Lives approach, even babies born as early as 27 weeks have been surviving. Abiy Seifu, Principal Investigator, Saving Little Lives program ,Ethiopia.
Abiy is pictured here holding the locally produced CarePlus Kangaroo Mother Care wraporiginally designed by Laerdal and made available to the program at no cost for local manufacturer.
For every birthing simulator purchased through Laerdal Medical, another one is donated to a low-income country through the Buy One Gift One program. In 2024, 1,200 simulators were distributed. To date, over 11,000 simulators have been donated to strengthen high impact programs in places where they are needed most.
For more than 60 years, we have worked with professional associations and global partners to help turn clinical guidelines into practical and effective training programs.
A proven educational approach
Supported by USAID-initiated Global Development Alliances, it is estimated that the Helping Mothers and Babies Survive Programs were implemented in over 100 countries in their first decade, reaching more than one million health care workers. The flagship program Helping Babies Breathe, has been shown to reduce early newborn mortality by 50% and fresh stillbirths by 25% when well implemented.
Scaling through WHO
In recent years we have collaborated with WHO to incorporate the Helping Mothers and Babies Survive Programs into updated programs under WHO. This is likely to spread the dissemination even further and ensure that the programs are incorporated into government training policies.
New digital versions of the programs, such as the Essential Newborn Care Program, will also allow for improved implementation and scale up in remote and fragile settings where the majority of newborns and mothers die. Hybrid and blended courses will further be added to the WHO Academy platform.
By equipping health workers with evidence-based practices and hands-on training, we can significantly reduce maternal mortality rates and improve outcomes for mothers and babies worldwide.
Dr Ioannis Gallos, Medical Officer | Maternal and Perinatal Health Unit, WHO
11,000+
birthing simulators donated
Training in the Basic Emergency Care program in Uganda - a program that can reduce mortality from sepsis and injury by 50 %
The challenge
Combating time-critical emergencies
Every year, 30 million people die from sudden, time-critical medical emergencies. The burden of acute disease is more than 4 times higher in low- and middle-income countries than in high-income countries.14&15
The opportunity
Investing in acute care can save millions of lives
In low-resource settings, over half of deaths and one-third of disabilities could be addressed through access to emergency care. By scaling up training programs and clinical decision-support tools through a coordinated, system-wide approach, millions of lives can be saved.16&17 Investing in acute care is not only lifesaving but also cost-effective.18
50% of deaths in low-resource settings could be addressed with access to emergency care
participant organizations - and counting
When someone suffers a serious injury, childbirth complication, or critical illness, getting the right care quickly can save their life. But in many low-resource settings, emergency, critical, and operative care are not well connected — leading to dangerous delays.
To tackle this challenge, the World Health Organization (WHO) — with support from the Laerdal Foundation and the American Heart Association — launched the Acute Care Action Network (ACAN) in 2023.
More than 50 organizations working with emergency, critical, and operative care have now joined the network, forming a powerful global coalition to improve emergency care and surgical safety worldwide.
The Acute Care Action Network is a global network that aims to save millions of more lives by bringing together top organizations dedicated to improving emergency, critical and operative care services, and bring proven interventions to scale.
Teri Reynolds, Unit Head, Clinical Services and Systems, WHO
• Strengthening acute care services: Expand implementation of the WHO acute care resources, including the Basic Emergency Care program
• Empowering communities: Implement community first aid response programs and study care seeking behaviour
• Enhancing access: Prioritize and assign acute care services to each level of the health system
• Improving quality: Support clinical quality improvement
• Informing action: Assess and plan at system, pathway and facility level
50%
reduction in in-hospital mortality
A proven, life-saving intervention
Launched in 2016, the Basic Emergency Care (BEC) course was developed by the World Health Organization, the International Committee of the Red Cross and International Federation for Emergency Medicine. It is designed to help healthcare workers manage acute life-threatening conditions in any health facility, anywhere in the world.
So far, over 50,000 healthcare workers in 60 countries have been trained. The program is associated with reduction in in-hospital mortality from time-critical emergencies by up to 50%.19
Making scale possible - and cost-effective
To address identified challenges for scale and enable wider adoption, we partnered with the WHO and the WHO Academy to create a hybrid training model that:
• Reduces in-person training from five to three days, decreasing time away from clinical duties by over 50%.
• Improves access to hands-on training with a low-cost, portable Emergency Care Learning Lab that facilitates effective skills and simulation training.
• Provides low-cost tools at a not-for-profit rate, reducing costs by 80-90%, making training kits accessible in every healthcare facility for ongoing refresher courses.
A global scaling effort
Expanding BEC is a key priority for the Acute Care Action Network. The WHO’s 25×25 campaign aims to implement the BEC program in 25 countries by 2025.
We have pledged support to WHO to fund large-scale implementation in several African countries - aiming to train 50,000 health workers, save 50,000 more lives, and prevent hundreds of thousands of disabilities, every year.
The first step to a stronger acute system
Strengthening acute care systems often begins with improving in-hospital care through BEC. Building on this foundation, WHO is introducing the Community First Aid Response and Basic Critical Care courses to strengthen the continuum of care. The new Emergency Care Learning Lab can be used for all these training programs.
The new implementation model can take costs down by 50%, and the addition of regular ongoing training in the workplace can double the lasting impact.
Amelia
Latu Afuhaamango Tuipulotu, Chief Nursing Officer, WHO
50,000 lives can be saved
The new Emergency Care Learning Lab supports all key skills in the basic emergency care courses - and comes in a portable backpack for easy use anywhere.
Aiding the most vulnerable
In humanitarian settings affected by conflict, disease outbreaks, displacement, and natural disasters, millions lack access to basic emergency care leaving people vulnerable to injuries, infections, childbirth complications, and other time-critical conditions.
Since 2020, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has led the rollout of BEC in over 30 countries, working with WHO, Ministries of Health, NGOs, and Red Cross/Red Crescent partners. Thousands of healthcare workers in fragile, conflict-affected areas have been trained—bringing lifesaving care to those who need it most. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) - Doctors without Borders - is also considering adopting BEC, with plans to scale it across its country programs.
Safer births
In some of the world’s most fragile settings, the Basic Emergency Care program is giving frontline providers the tools to save lives—when health systems are broken, overwhelmed, or gone altogether.
Yves Giebens, Hospital Services Program Coordinator, ICRC
There are 30 million births in fragile settings every year - and these contribute to over half of maternal and newborn deaths worldwide. Limited access to emergency care is a significant challenge to provide safe childbirth.
To help address this, we’ve partnered with the WHO and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) to create a digital version of Helping Babies Breathe, a remote, facilitator-led model tailored for crisis contexts. The program has reached countries like Yemen, Afghanistan, and South Sudan, with MSF planning to scale it to 50 more.
countries with humanitarian settings benefit from the BEC program
50% of all maternal and newborn deaths occur in humanitarian settings
4.7m
USD annual funding for research projects
Since its founding in 1980 in collaboration with the University of Oslo, the Laerdal Foundation has supported practical research and evidence generation that can help save more lives, in particular through better educational efficiency and implementation strategies. While it shares a mission with Laerdal Medical and Laerdal Global Health, the Foundation operates independently. It is governed by an independent board and operates at arm’s-length from the Laerdal companies.
Stepping up for 2030
In response to the urgency of meeting the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, the Foundation increased its annual grant commitments in 2023 to 50 million NOK (USD 4.7 million) with 50% dedicated to projects in low-resource settings. Since 2020, more than 250 new research projects have received support, helping accelerate learning across maternal and newborn health, emergency care, and resuscitation.
Examples of projects funded since 2020 with a particularly high impact potential:
Saving Lives at Birth
• Eleven PhDs in Tanzania and Ethiopia are documenting the impact and cost-effectiveness of the Safer Birth Bundle of Care and Saving Little Lives programs informing national and global scale-up plans.
• The Delivery Room Intervention and Evaluation network is a research network spanning 15+ US states dedicated to improving outcomes for fullterm newborns needing resuscitation.
Strengthening Acute Care in low-resource settings
• Co-funded the establishment of the WHO Acute Care Action Network (see page 30-31) and a multi-country implementation study with WHO and the African Federation for Emergency Medicine to identify best implementation models for the Basic Emergency Care program.
Explore more at
Global Resuscitation Alliances
• Inspired by the success of the Global Resuscitation Alliance for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, the Foundation has supported the launch of four new alliances focusing on sepsis, pediatric resuscitation, in-hospital adult resuscitation, and neonatal resuscitation.
Utstein expert meetings
Ten Utstein meetings bringing together global experts to accelerate action have been funded:
• Establishment of Global Resucitation Alliance for In-hospital Cardiac Arrest
• Surgical metrics (convened by WFSA)
• From Utstein to ACAN (3 WHO convened meetings)
• Global Guidelines for Midwifery Education
• Establishment of Global Resuscitation Alliance for Newborn Resuscitation
• Establishment of Guidelines for Sepsis in lowresource settings
• Extended Reality in Patient Simulation Training
• Bridging Gaps in Nursing Education for Now and the Future (June 2025)
An important Utstein meeting took place in September 2023, leading up to the establishment of the Acute Care Action Network
50% of funding designated for low-resource settings
The Laerdal Million Lives Fund is a USD 100 million venture capital fund investing in disruptive, data-driven life-saving innovations.
An increased ambition for 2030
Building on strong momentum within the portfolio and the growth opportunities ahead, the Fund has set a new target: By 2030, the Fund aims to help save 50,000 more lives, every year.
From thousands to a few
Since its launch in 2020, the Fund has screened over 3,000 companies in a rigorous evaluation process. At the heart of this process is the question: “Does this innovation have the potential to help save lives at scale?“.
Today, the portfolio includes 13 companies - each possessing novel, enabling technologies that align with our mission of helping save lives.
Our commitment extends beyond capital investment: The Million Lives Fund team members actively engage with portfolio companies, serving on the boards of more than half of them, helping shape strategic direction and impact focus and forging deep partnerships with management teams.
The fund focusses on early-stage companies with high lifesaving potential, ensuring that the investments drive meaningful change as they scale
Avive - A connected AED for sudden cardiac arrest. Over 10,000 devices in the field with lifesaving potential.
CardioSense - Non-invasive monitoring for heart failure patients. Results of a 1000+ patient clinical trial results were accepted as latebreaking science at AHA’s Scientific Sessions in 2024.
Novocuff - A medical device company dedicated to improving outcomes for pregnancies affected by preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM) or cervical shortening - limited by US law for investigational use only.
The progress reported has been made possible thanks to collaboration with our partners including:
American Heart Association
RQI-Partners
National League for Nursing
Global Resuscitation Alliance
Resuscitation Academy
British Heart Foundation
Wolters Kluwer
SAFER
Nepal Medical Council
Indian Nursing Council
World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists
Gordon Center for Simulation and Innovation in Medical Education
International Confederation of Red Cross
European Resuscitation Council
World Health Organization
Acute Care Action Network
American Academy of Pediatrics
International Confederation of Midwives and a number of national midwifery associations
Latter-day Saint Charities
Global Financing Facility / World Bank
Global Health Media
NORAD
USAID
Jhpiego
UNICEF
UNFPA
PATH
Save the Children
Safer Birth R&D consortium
Saving Little Lives consortium
Médecins Sans Frontières
Norwegian Church Aid
International College of Nurses
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Haydom Lutheran Hospital
Aastrika Foundation
International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics
Red Cross Red Crescent Societies
International Council of Nurses
WHO Academy
International Federation of Emergency Medicine + national associtations
