Post by eb204 on Jan 26, 2009 23:06:47 GMT -5
January 26, 2009
By TIM WALDORF twaldorf@scn1.com
Dr. Joseph Marek stood before the Indian Prairie School District 204 board Monday and read a list of names of Chicago area teens who lost their lives in the last year due to sudden cardiac death.
A familiar name to the District 204 community — that of Zumari Doby — popped up toward the end of that list. In late June, Doby, a junior at Waubonsie Valley High School, collapsed and died while he was playing in an AUU basketball tournament at Plainfield South High School.
"The problem of sudden cardiac death is one that is not rare," said Marek as he announced Midwest Heart Community Foundation's plans to partner with Edward Hospital and the Indian Prairie Educational Foundation to bring the Young Hearts for Life Cardiac Screening program to District 204's high schools.
Marek said sudden cardiac death is responsible for more than 30 deaths of young adults each week in the United States, and he noted that this toll is comparable to that seen with alcohol-related deaths in teenagers.
AEDs — automatic external defibrillators — and cardio-pulmonary resuscitation alone cannot save these unfortunate victims, as only about 50 percent of them can be successfully resuscitated with these measures, Marek said.
"But a simple, four-minute, painless EKG can detect 50 to 60 percent of these young adults that are at risk of sudden death and allow them to obtain life saving medical treatment."
That why, in 2006, Marek and the Midwest Heart Community Foundation started the Young Hearts for Life program in which they go to area high schools, and, with the assistance of trained volunteers, offer EKGs free of charge to all students.
More than 22,000 students at 17 area high schools have been tested as part of the program, and more than 370 of them were identified as needing further evaluation by their own doctors, and, in some cases, underwent further testing and treatment.
Formal screenings of District 204's 8,500 high school students — the largest group ever screened by the program — will take place March 19 and 20 and April 9 for Waubonsie Valley and April 16 and 17 and May 1 for Neuqua Valley.
According to the organizers of District 204's screenings, hundreds of volunteers are needed to help Midwest Heart perform these EKGs on the large volume of students who will want to be screened. Those who volunteer will be asked to perform a variety of tasks and they must commit to a minimum of four hours of service.
All volunteers are required to participate in a 90-minute training session led by Marek, a board-certified cardiologist, and a small team of Midwest Heart Community Foundation representatives.
The training sessions for Waubonsie Valley volunteers are scheduled for 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. March 17, and 5 to 6:30 p.m. and 7 to 8:30 p.m. March 18 at the school's main campus field house. Waubonsie Valley's freshman campus will host additional training sessions from 5 to 6:30 p.m. and from 7 to 8:30 p.m. April 8.
Neuqua Valley administrators have scheduled their first training sessions for 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 1:30 to 3 p.m. April 14 at the Wheatland building (formerly Wheatland Elementary School) on the corner of Route 59 and 103rd Street. Additional training sessions are scheduled for 5 to 6:30 p.m. and 7 to 8:30 p.m. April 15 in Room C202 at the main campus, and for 5 to 6:30 p.m. and 7 to 8:30 p.m. in Room H128 at the freshman campus.
Those who are interested in volunteering should register for a training session by sending an e-mail to nvyh4l@gmail.com for Neuqua Valley and wvyh4l@gmail.com for Waubonsie Valley.
By TIM WALDORF twaldorf@scn1.com
Dr. Joseph Marek stood before the Indian Prairie School District 204 board Monday and read a list of names of Chicago area teens who lost their lives in the last year due to sudden cardiac death.
A familiar name to the District 204 community — that of Zumari Doby — popped up toward the end of that list. In late June, Doby, a junior at Waubonsie Valley High School, collapsed and died while he was playing in an AUU basketball tournament at Plainfield South High School.
"The problem of sudden cardiac death is one that is not rare," said Marek as he announced Midwest Heart Community Foundation's plans to partner with Edward Hospital and the Indian Prairie Educational Foundation to bring the Young Hearts for Life Cardiac Screening program to District 204's high schools.
Marek said sudden cardiac death is responsible for more than 30 deaths of young adults each week in the United States, and he noted that this toll is comparable to that seen with alcohol-related deaths in teenagers.
AEDs — automatic external defibrillators — and cardio-pulmonary resuscitation alone cannot save these unfortunate victims, as only about 50 percent of them can be successfully resuscitated with these measures, Marek said.
"But a simple, four-minute, painless EKG can detect 50 to 60 percent of these young adults that are at risk of sudden death and allow them to obtain life saving medical treatment."
That why, in 2006, Marek and the Midwest Heart Community Foundation started the Young Hearts for Life program in which they go to area high schools, and, with the assistance of trained volunteers, offer EKGs free of charge to all students.
More than 22,000 students at 17 area high schools have been tested as part of the program, and more than 370 of them were identified as needing further evaluation by their own doctors, and, in some cases, underwent further testing and treatment.
Formal screenings of District 204's 8,500 high school students — the largest group ever screened by the program — will take place March 19 and 20 and April 9 for Waubonsie Valley and April 16 and 17 and May 1 for Neuqua Valley.
According to the organizers of District 204's screenings, hundreds of volunteers are needed to help Midwest Heart perform these EKGs on the large volume of students who will want to be screened. Those who volunteer will be asked to perform a variety of tasks and they must commit to a minimum of four hours of service.
All volunteers are required to participate in a 90-minute training session led by Marek, a board-certified cardiologist, and a small team of Midwest Heart Community Foundation representatives.
The training sessions for Waubonsie Valley volunteers are scheduled for 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. March 17, and 5 to 6:30 p.m. and 7 to 8:30 p.m. March 18 at the school's main campus field house. Waubonsie Valley's freshman campus will host additional training sessions from 5 to 6:30 p.m. and from 7 to 8:30 p.m. April 8.
Neuqua Valley administrators have scheduled their first training sessions for 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 1:30 to 3 p.m. April 14 at the Wheatland building (formerly Wheatland Elementary School) on the corner of Route 59 and 103rd Street. Additional training sessions are scheduled for 5 to 6:30 p.m. and 7 to 8:30 p.m. April 15 in Room C202 at the main campus, and for 5 to 6:30 p.m. and 7 to 8:30 p.m. in Room H128 at the freshman campus.
Those who are interested in volunteering should register for a training session by sending an e-mail to nvyh4l@gmail.com for Neuqua Valley and wvyh4l@gmail.com for Waubonsie Valley.