You Can Make a Difference!

Donations to the Heart Rhythm Foundation help reduce death and disability due to cardiac arrhythmia disorders by supporting the research, education and advocacy efforts of the Heart Rhythm Society.

Among its efforts to educate the public on the very serious heart health issue of atrial fibrillation -- also known as AF or Afib -- the Heart Rhythm Society has implemented its AF Awareness Campaign, actively working to increase public knowledge about AF, the symptoms and warning signs and the treatments available.

"AF is the most common heart arrhythmia and, unfortunately, many people know very little about AF and just how serious it can be to someone's long-term health," says Bruce Wilkoff, MD, FHRS, CCDS, president of Heart Rhythm Society. AF, characterized by a rapid and irregular heartbeat, can severely depreciate an individual's quality of life, causing heart palpitations, chronic fatigue and debilitating pain.

AF can also increase the risk of stroke fivefold and is estimated to be responsible for 88,000 deaths and $16 billion in additional costs to the U.S. healthcare system. As the world population ages, the prevalence of AF is projected to increase -- projections are that more than 5.6 million adults in the next 40 years will be diagnosed with AF.

Another critical initiative the Foundation helps fund is the SCA Awareness Campaign. Having determined that more than 70 percent of Americans not only underestimate the seriousness of Sudden Cardiac Arrest, or SCA, but also believe SCA is a type of heart attack, the Society’s tools and resources help the public become more familiar with what SCA is, how it affects people and what can be done to help save lives.

SCA claims one life every two minutes, taking more lives each year than breast cancer, lung cancer or AIDS. To decrease the death toll from SCA, it is important to understand what SCA is, what the symptoms and warning signs are and how to respond and prevent SCA from occurring.

"I can’t tell you for sure how many lives have been saved because of the work of the Heart Rhythm Foundation, but I can tell you that it has made much progress over the last few years,” says Maggie Finnerty, a grateful implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD) patient who individually has raised more than $25,000 for the Foundation by running marathons and triathlons.

Finnerty chooses to focus on fundraising to enable research and public awareness because two of her brothers, Kevin (20) and Timmy (15), were Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD) victims, dying in their sleep approximately 14 months apart. Compounding the loss of these athletic siblings more than 25 years ago was the fact that the physicians “could not tell if the same thing might happen to the rest of us,” says Finnerty.

Finnerty’s mother was more recently diagnosed with non-sustained ventricular tachycardia -- where the heart beats so fast that it can no longer pump blood throughout the body, robbing the body of oxygen. In severe cases, this condition can instantly kill even the healthiest person. “Most of our family (four siblings, two nephews, one niece and myself) have received an ICD. If the heart races to a deadly pace, the defibrillator should shock the heart and restore a normal rhythm,” says Finnerty.

Contributions to the Heart Rhythm Foundation enable the Heart Rhythm Society to be the primary information resource for healthcare professionals and the voice of support for patients with cardiac arrhythmia disorders -- past, present and future.

• Contact the Heart Rhythm Foundation to learn more about donating, our Matching Gifts program and more
• Review our Donor Bill of Rights
• Learn more about the Heart Rhythm Foundation's Legacy Gift Planning Campaign