Senate Bill could require heart screenings for Florida student-athletes
Organization sees screenings as common sense
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and last updated 2021-03-10 10:49:08-05
TAMPA, Fla. â Protecting student-athletes from detectable heart conditions that could cost them their lives. That is the goal of a new bill, Senate Bill 280, that aims to require heart screenings and first aid lessons at the middle and high school levels in the entire state of Florida.
I spoke with the founder of an organization that is one of this bill s biggest champions.
Evan Ernst is the executive director of Who We Play For, which he started after losing one of his high school teammates at the beginning of soccer practice. He was one of unfortunately hundreds of kids who died from a heart condition that is completely preventable if detected early through a screening.
weeks earlier, his doctor had said he was healthy after a routine check out but in 2010, his heart stopped while he was working on a puzzle. found him lying on the floor of their home and now says wants to make sure this never happens to anyone else. in 2013, she cofounded aidan s heart foundation, an organization which provided 800 free heart screenings for kids and infants in pennsylvania. nearly two dozen of those screenings have found conditions that could cause sudden cardiac arrest for it has also teamed up with the peyton walker foundation, another organization working to prevent sudden cardiac arrest trying to pass a law that would encourage parents to get their kids at screens during physicals that i have to get before things like participating in school sports. kristy silva joins us live. it s an honor to have you with us. i can t imagine as a parent what a shock it must ve done for you, just had a physical and you had no indication there was a problem. no family history, t
they lost their son at 3 months old to sudden infant death syndrome. our coroner said go get their hearts checked. she had an arrhythmia. although it was never confirmed, the mayo clinic attributes 10 to 15% of unexplained infant deaths to this syndrome and also heart defects like it are causing deaths in later childhood as well. at the time there were no organizations out there that were checking kids hearts. . we don t want another family to go through what we have been through. it provides free heart screenings for kids. over the past ten years, we have screened about 12,000 students. approximately 1% discover some kind of heart condition. kids like drew. i went to a screening and found i had a structural issue
go get your hearts checked because babies just don t die. louis had a heart that beat irregul irregularly. although never confirmed in simon, the mayo clinic contributes 10% to 15% on unexplained infant deaths to the syndrome and health effects like it are causing deaths later in childhood, as well. at the time there were no organizations out there that were checking kids hearts. we don t want another family to go through what we ve been through. simon s fund provides free heart screenings for kids. over the past ten years we ve screened about 12,000 students. approximately 1% discover some type of heart condition. i went to a screening and found i had a structural issue with my heart. the opportunity of drew having a heart screening allowed us to prevent an incident that
estimated 2 million injuries, 500,000 doctors visits, and 30,000 hospitalizations annually. this past friday, 16-year-old antonio rovas collapsed on his high school track, running a routine drill. he was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead of apparent heat exhaustion. and last week, hayward dennison of central catholic high school in oregon scored the winning touchdown. moments later, dennison felt his heart racing. i got back up and i was trying to breathe a lot more. reporter: then he collapsed of a heart attack. his heart stopped for about two minutes before a nurse in the stands helped revive him. turns out he has a heart condition, something doctors previously diagnosed as asthma. his father is now fighting to mandate heart screenings for all high school athletes. i want this a law. i won t stop. i m going to push it that no other family has to go through it. reporter: dan harris, abc news, new york.