The Kansas City Jazz Rugby team is kickstarting the spring season with a fundraiser!

The number one priority of the Kansas City Jazz is the safety of our players, coaches and spectators. We are trying to raise $2000 to purchase an AED for our team. (That covers the gofundme fees and gets us the funds needed to purchase the AEDs.

Our goal for 2023 is to have an AED available for all of our home practices and games.

AEDs are powerful, life-saving devices.

Sudden cardiac arrest is the leading cause of death in the United States, taking the lives of an estimated 400,000 people each year -- more than lung cancer, breast cancer, and AIDS combined. Sudden cardiac arrest, which is not the same as a heart attack, occurs when the electrical system of the heart malfunctions, causing the heart to stop beating.

Sudden cardiac arrest is an indiscriminant killer and can strike anyone - including seemingly healthy young athletes. Between 25 and 33 percent of sudden cardiac arrest fatalities occur during sports activity.

One rare but potentially catastrophic phenomenon in athletes that results in sudden cardiac arrest is commotio cordis. Commotio cordis occurs when a blunt, but often relatively mild, blow to the area of the chest directly over the heart occurs during a precise moment of heart's cycle, leading to sudden cardiac arrest.

The most effective treatment for sudden cardiac arrest and, indeed, the only effective response to commotio cordis, is the timely delivery of a life-saving shock or defibrillation. Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) are portable and easy-to-use devices that deliver potentially life-saving defibrillation therapy quickly and effectively. Tens of thousands of lives that would have otherwise been lost have been saved by AEDs.

Thank you!

Love,

The KC Jazz