Volunteers with the Young Hearts for Life® Cardiac Screening initiative will be back in Barrington testing local teens for heart defects on Thursday, October 30th and Friday, the 31st. All 3,000 BHS students are welcome to take part in the FREE heart checks courtesy of the YH4L program which has identified over 1,900 students as “at risk” to-date.
Within the last decade, there have been numerous accounts of seemingly healthy high school athletes dying suddenly while playing sports as a result of an undiagnosed heart condition. Young athletes suffer sudden cardiac death at a rate two to three times as high as their less active peers.
Did You Know…
* Each week, sudden cardiac death claims the lives of more than 60 young adults in the United States.
* More than 7,000 young people under 18 years of age die from undetected heart conditions each year.
* 50 to 60 percent of these deaths may have been prevented through a simple heart screening not offered during most physicals.
* Students should be screened every two years since cardiac rhythm can change during adolescence.
Young Hearts 4 Life has been a leader in the medical community, helping address this health issue in the Chicago area.
YH4L provides free cardiac screenings which include an ECG (electrocardiogram) and may include a screening ECHO (echocardiogram) to identify high school students at risk for sudden cardiac death and to increase the public’s awareness of this issue.
Founded in 2006 by Dr. Joseph Marek, the YH4L screening program uses trained community volunteers to deliver a low cost, efficient screening program. Dr. Marek, an internationally recognized cardiologist, has taught physicians across America how to run screenings for students and athletes. Over 10,000 community volunteers have been trained to provide students with FREE ECGs through YH4L.
To date, over 100,000 students have been screened as a result of YH4L for conditions that cause sudden cardiac death. This milestone is a first for any program of this kind in the United States.
Of the more than 1,900 students identified by YH4L as “at risk” for heart health issues, hundreds were found to have life threatening conditions, including Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, Long QT Syndrome, Wolff-Parkinson- White Syndrome (WPW), Brugada Syndrome, and Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Dysplasia.
Young Hearts for Life will be screening BHS students FOR FREE during school hours on Oct. 30 and 31. CLICK HERE to register your student and, for more information, visit YH4L.org.
They’re also in need of more volunteers to help out during this year’s cardiac screening. Barrington High School’s third bi-annual YH4L cardiac screening event requires 200-240 volunteers. Mandatory training for volunteers will take place the evening of Wednesday, October 29th. Even if you don’t have a student at BHS, volunteer coordinators request that you please consider helping out to keep the young adults in our community safe. To volunteer for this potentially life saving event, visit Barrington220.org/ekgvolunteer.
