As members of the Leadership Greater Topeka (LGT) 2011 class, we are writing to ask for your support towards an important new initiative. Each year many people in our own community experience sudden death. Many of these lives could be saved if access to life saving interventions was immediately available.

According to the American Heart Association, each year approximately 300,000 people in the United States suffer Sudden Cardiac Arrest. Less than 8% of these victims survive. In Sudden Cardiac Arrest, the heart unexpectedly experiences an electrical system malfunction, which makes it beat chaotically. This ineffective heart rhythm leads to the cessation of blood flow and a rapid loss of consciousness. Left untreated, death occurs within minutes.

By providing funding for AEDs, we hope to improve the survival rates for victims of Sudden Cardiac Arrest within our community. Our initial goal is to place at least one AED in all three Topeka YMCAs and the local YWCA. Providing this critical life-saving device along with education provided by Kansas CPR, will help make Topeka a safer place.

Please consider partnering with us to help raise the necessary funds for placing AEDs throughout our community. Sudden Cardiac Arrest can strike victims of all ages with little or no warning. Most of us know someone who could have been saved with this simple intervention. Help us ensure that the next victim has a chance.

Leadership Greater Topeka 2011 Health Care Project Group

Glea Ashley
Valeo Behavioral Health Care

Chris Gallagher-Sneden
Washburn University – KTWU

Cathy Gragg
WIBW Channels

Jack Gray
YMCA of Topeka

Shelly McMaster
Stormont Vail HealthCare

Marsha Pope
Topeka Community Foundation

Kirk Starr
St. Francis Health Center