diff --git a/pkg/compute/executor_buffer.go b/pkg/compute/executor_buffer.go
index c089df54bd..c129a1a401 100644
--- a/pkg/compute/executor_buffer.go
+++ b/pkg/compute/executor_buffer.go
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ func (s *ExecutorBuffer) Run(ctx context.Context, localExecutionState store.Loca
 		execution.AllocateResources(execution.Job.Task().Name, *added)
 	}
 
-	s.queuedTasks.Enqueue(newBufferTask(localExecutionState), execution.Job.Priority)
+	s.queuedTasks.Enqueue(newBufferTask(localExecutionState), int64(execution.Job.Priority))
 	s.deque()
 	return err
 }
diff --git a/pkg/lib/collections/hashed_priority_queue.go b/pkg/lib/collections/hashed_priority_queue.go
index 3e68c3fa0a..e83fb6dbde 100644
--- a/pkg/lib/collections/hashed_priority_queue.go
+++ b/pkg/lib/collections/hashed_priority_queue.go
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ func (q *HashedPriorityQueue[K, T]) Contains(id K) bool {
 
 // Enqueue will add the item specified by `data` to the queue with the
 // the priority given by `priority`.
-func (q *HashedPriorityQueue[K, T]) Enqueue(data T, priority int) {
+func (q *HashedPriorityQueue[K, T]) Enqueue(data T, priority int64) {
 	q.mu.Lock()
 	defer q.mu.Unlock()
 
diff --git a/pkg/lib/collections/priority_queue.go b/pkg/lib/collections/priority_queue.go
index 200c6227c7..72129a414e 100644
--- a/pkg/lib/collections/priority_queue.go
+++ b/pkg/lib/collections/priority_queue.go
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ var (
 type PriorityQueueInterface[T any] interface {
 	// Enqueue will add the item specified by `data` to the queue with the
 	// the priority given by `priority`.
-	Enqueue(data T, priority int)
+	Enqueue(data T, priority int64)
 
 	// Dequeue returns the next highest priority item, returning both
 	// the data Enqueued previously, and the priority with which it was
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ type PriorityQueue[T any] struct {
 // the various dequeue methods
 type QueueItem[T any] struct {
 	Value    T
-	Priority int
+	Priority int64
 }
 
 // MatchingFunction can be used when 'iterating' the priority queue to find
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ func NewPriorityQueue[T any]() *PriorityQueue[T] {
 
 // Enqueue will add the item specified by `data` to the queue with the
 // the priority given by `priority`.
-func (pq *PriorityQueue[T]) Enqueue(data T, priority int) {
+func (pq *PriorityQueue[T]) Enqueue(data T, priority int64) {
 	pq.mu.Lock()
 	defer pq.mu.Unlock()
 
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ func (pq *PriorityQueue[T]) Enqueue(data T, priority int) {
 
 // enqueue is a lock-free version of Enqueue for internal use when a
 // method already has a lock.
-func (pq *PriorityQueue[T]) enqueue(data T, priority int) {
+func (pq *PriorityQueue[T]) enqueue(data T, priority int64) {
 	heap.Push(
 		&pq.internalQueue,
 		&heapItem{
@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@ type queueHeap []*heapItem
 
 type heapItem struct {
 	value    any
-	priority int
+	priority int64
 	index    int // The index for update
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/lib/collections/priority_queue_test.go b/pkg/lib/collections/priority_queue_test.go
index 1bd9ac8f14..d175cac002 100644
--- a/pkg/lib/collections/priority_queue_test.go
+++ b/pkg/lib/collections/priority_queue_test.go
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ func TestPriorityQueueSuite(t *testing.T) {
 func (s *PriorityQueueSuite) TestSimple() {
 	type testcase struct {
 		v string
-		p int
+		p int64
 	}
 	inputs := []testcase{
 		{"B", 2}, {"A", 3}, {"C", 1}, {"A", 3}, {"C", 1}, {"B", 2},
@@ -31,7 +31,34 @@ func (s *PriorityQueueSuite) TestSimple() {
 
 	pq := collections.NewPriorityQueue[string]()
 	for _, tc := range inputs {
-		pq.Enqueue(tc.v, tc.p)
+		pq.Enqueue(tc.v, int64(tc.p))
+	}
+
+	for _, tc := range expected {
+		qitem := pq.Dequeue()
+		s.Require().NotNil(qitem)
+		s.Require().Equal(tc.v, qitem.Value)
+		s.Require().Equal(tc.p, qitem.Priority)
+	}
+
+	s.Require().True(pq.IsEmpty())
+}
+
+func (s *PriorityQueueSuite) TestSimpleMin() {
+	type testcase struct {
+		v string
+		p int64
+	}
+	inputs := []testcase{
+		{"B", -2}, {"A", -3}, {"C", -1}, {"A", -3}, {"C", -1}, {"B", -2},
+	}
+	expected := []testcase{
+		{"C", -1}, {"C", -1}, {"B", -2}, {"B", -2}, {"A", -3}, {"A", -3},
+	}
+
+	pq := collections.NewPriorityQueue[string]()
+	for _, tc := range inputs {
+		pq.Enqueue(tc.v, int64(tc.p))
 	}
 
 	for _, tc := range expected {
diff --git a/pkg/node/heartbeat/server.go b/pkg/node/heartbeat/server.go
index d10e9eb392..e556b1c4a5 100644
--- a/pkg/node/heartbeat/server.go
+++ b/pkg/node/heartbeat/server.go
@@ -2,7 +2,9 @@ package heartbeat
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"time"
 
+	"github.com/bacalhau-project/bacalhau/pkg/lib/collections"
 	natsPubSub "github.com/bacalhau-project/bacalhau/pkg/nats/pubsub"
 	"github.com/bacalhau-project/bacalhau/pkg/pubsub"
 
@@ -12,6 +14,7 @@ import (
 
 type HeartbeatServer struct {
 	subscription *natsPubSub.PubSub[Heartbeat]
+	pqueue       *collections.HashedPriorityQueue[string, Heartbeat]
 }
 
 func NewServer(conn *nats.Conn) (*HeartbeatServer, error) {
@@ -25,7 +28,13 @@ func NewServer(conn *nats.Conn) (*HeartbeatServer, error) {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	return &HeartbeatServer{subscription: subscription}, nil
+	pqueue := collections.NewHashedPriorityQueue[string, Heartbeat](
+		func(h Heartbeat) string {
+			return h.NodeID
+		},
+	)
+
+	return &HeartbeatServer{subscription: subscription, pqueue: pqueue}, nil
 }
 
 func (h *HeartbeatServer) Start(ctx context.Context) error {
@@ -40,13 +49,46 @@ func (h *HeartbeatServer) Start(ctx context.Context) error {
 		log.Ctx(ctx).Info().Msg("Heartbeat server shutdown")
 	}(ctx)
 
+	go func(ctx context.Context) {
+		ticker := time.NewTicker(heartbeatQueueCheckFrequency)
+
+		for {
+			select {
+			case <-ctx.Done():
+				return
+			case <-ticker.C:
+				// We'll iterate over the priority queue and check if the last heartbeat
+				// received from each node is older than 10 seconds. If it is, we'll
+				// consider the node as dead.
+			}
+		}
+	}(ctx)
+
 	return nil
 }
 
 func (h *HeartbeatServer) Handle(ctx context.Context, message Heartbeat) error {
 	log.Ctx(ctx).Trace().Msgf("heartbeat received from %s", message.NodeID)
 
-	// TODO: Process the heartbeat (e.g. update the node's last seen time)
+	timestamp := time.Now().UTC().Unix()
+
+	if h.pqueue.Contains(message.NodeID) {
+		// If we think we already have a heartbeat from this node, we'll update the
+		// timestamp of the entry so it is re-prioritized in the queue by dequeuing
+		// and re-enqueuing it (this will ensure it is heapified correctly).
+		result := h.pqueue.DequeueWhere(func(item Heartbeat) bool {
+			return item.NodeID == message.NodeID
+		})
+
+		log.Ctx(ctx).Trace().Msgf("Re-enqueueing heartbeat from %s", message.NodeID)
+		h.pqueue.Enqueue(result.Value, timestamp)
+	} else {
+		log.Ctx(ctx).Trace().Msgf("Enqueueing heartbeat from %s", message.NodeID)
+
+		// We'll enqueue the heartbeat message with the current timestamp. The older
+		// the entry, the lower the timestamp (trending to 0) and the higher the priority.
+		h.pqueue.Enqueue(message, timestamp)
+	}
 
 	return nil
 }
diff --git a/pkg/node/heartbeat/types.go b/pkg/node/heartbeat/types.go
index 6ded7a8234..678edf0fbd 100644
--- a/pkg/node/heartbeat/types.go
+++ b/pkg/node/heartbeat/types.go
@@ -1,6 +1,11 @@
 package heartbeat
 
-const heartbeatTopic = "heartbeat"
+import "time"
+
+const (
+	heartbeatTopic               = "heartbeat"
+	heartbeatQueueCheckFrequency = 5 * time.Second
+)
 
 // Heartbeat represents a heartbeat message from a specific node.
 // It contains the node ID and the sequence number of the heartbeat