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September 26, 2011

Dear Friend,

Tragedy struck three high school students and their families in the same week earlier this year. Wes Leonard (16), Matthew Hammerdorfer (17), and Sarah Landauer (17) never knew each other, but they suffered a similar fate. On March 3, star player Wes, had just taken the winning shot in overtime at a basketball game at Fennville High School in Fennville, Michigan, when he collapsed and died from sudden cardiac arrest (SCA). Two days later, Matt, captain of the Poudre High School rugby team in Fort Collins, Colorado, had just scored the winning shot during a match when he collapsed and died from SCA. A few days later, star athlete Sarah, an all-area soccer player, collapsed from SCA during track practice at Eastside High School in Gainesville, Florida and later died.

These SCA victims were not alone. In addition to Wes, Matt, and Sarah, about 120 other high school students across the U.S. also died from unexpected SCA that week—a rate of nearly one student death per hour.¹²

Young victims are part of an even larger group of SCA victims. Nearly 6,000 people die from SCA each week in the U.S. (295,000/year) and on average only 8% survive.³ One third of victims—or more—could survive if they received immediate CPR or chest compressions and were treated within minutes with a defibrillator.⁴⁵

The Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation is working tirelessly to raise awareness so that survival from SCA becomes the norm, rather than the exception—so that there are more stories like this one:

Kaitlin Forbes was 15 when her SCA occurred in 2005 at Rhinebeck High School in Rhinebeck, New York. An avid athlete, she played varsity softball, volleyball and basketball, and she went to UConn basketball camp every summer. One day when she was playing softball at school, her heart suddenly stopped beating, and she collapsed. Thanks to quick bystander action and the school’s emergency response plan, she is alive today. The gym teacher sent three students to get the school nurse, call 911, and retrieve the AED (automated external defibrillator). He started CPR and was assisted by the coach. The coach and the school nurse then used the AED to restore Kaitlin’s heartbeat and bring her back to life.⁶

Help us foster more stories with happy endings. We hope your circumstances allow you to make a gift of $25, $50, $100 or more to the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation. Your gift, large or small, will help us reach thousands of individuals with our lifesaving messages and resources.

Thanks to your past support, we have:

• Developed the nation’s most comprehensive website focused exclusively on SCA, www.sca-aware.org, which has users in nearly every country worldwide
• Created the first national registry of SCA survivors, the National SCA Survivor NetworkTM, an online community where those affected by SCA can share experiences and insights
• Created an educational campaign targeted to secondary schools, You Can Save a Life at School™, in collaboration with multiple nonprofit partners (www.sca-aware.org/schools)
• Helped lead the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Coalition, an ad hoc group of 40+ nonprofits united by a common cause, which successfully secured passage of a Congressional Resolution proclaiming October as National Sudden Cardiac Arrest Awareness Month
• Worked proactively with the media to promote lifesaving messages and secured media placements in thousands of outlets in the U.S., including Newsweek, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Forbes.com, that have reached millions of readers
• Launched social media platforms to share news and resources and create a community of advocates against SCA
• Provided information and other resources to thousands of individuals and organizations interested in raising awareness and saving lives in local communities
• In collaboration with several universities, conducted research exploring the incidence of SCA among African-Americans, a medically underserved population, and research related to quality of life after survival from SCA
• Worked with an international team to develop iRescU, a lifesaving mobile device application to be launched later this year.

With your continued support, we will further develop existing programs—and begin work on several exciting new projects including:

• An educational campaign targeted to colleges and universities
• A game designed to teach livesaving skills, working in collaboration with Carnegie Mellon University’s Entertainment Technology Center and its spinoff EtcEdutainment
• New resources for survivors, developed as one of a handful of patient associations invited to participate in the Medtronic Foundation Heart Rescue Program.

Here's how to give:

• Donate online — Directly through this page (see the Donate Online section at the bottom)
• Send a check to the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation, 7500 Brooktree Road, Suite 207, Wexford, PA 15090.
• Donate through United Way of Pittsburgh (Account No. 9940420) or your local United Way.
• Consider making a gift of stock. For information, contact Leonard Silvester, RBC Wealth Management, at Leonard.silvester@rbc.com or 724-933-4421.

When you contribute, be sure to let us know (info@sca-aware.org) if you would like your gift to be made in memory or in honor of a loved one.

Thank you for your consideration.

With gratitude and best wishes,

Mary M. Newman, MS
President

Norman S. Abramson, MC, FACEP, FCCM
Chairman, Board of Directors
Professor Emeritus, Emergency Medicine
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

P. S. While you were reading this letter, several more Americans have died from sudden cardiac arrest. Your gift can help prevent further loss of life.

Note: The Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation is a national nonprofit 501(c)3 organization. The official registration and financial information of the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation may be obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of State by calling toll-free, within Pennsylvania, 1-800-732-0999. Registration does not imply endorsement.

¹ Lloyd-Jones D, Adams RJ, Brown TM, et al. Circulation, 2010;121:e46-e215. To read more, visit http://www.scaaware. org/schools/school-news/three-deaths-in-one-week-are-student-athletes-safe-at-school.
² Midwest Heart Institute. To read more, visit http://www.sca-aware.org/schools/school-news/three-deaths-in-one-week-are-studentathletes-safe-at-school.
³ Lloyd-Jones et al.
⁴ Myron L. Weisfeldt, M.D., Siobhan Everson-Stewart, Ph.D., Colleen Sitlani, M.S., et al. for the Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium (ROC) Investigators. N Engl J Med 2011; 364:313-321.
⁵ Weisfeldt ML, Sitlani CM, Ornato JP, et al., on behalf of the ROC Investigators. J Am Coll Cardiol 2010;55:1713-1720.
⁶ To read more, visit http://www.sca-aware.org/schools/saving-kaitlin and download a free copy.
⁷ To read more, visit http://www.sca-aware.org/sca-news/give-25-or-more-on-tuesday-10-4.

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