Every year thousands of our kids die from sudden cardiac arrest. It can happen without symptoms or warning signs. San Diego alone loses three to five teens annually. It’s not a heart attack. SCA is an abnormality in the heart’s electrical system that can be detected with a simple EKG. But EKGs are NOT a part of your teen’s annual well-child exam or pre-participation sports physical,although they only cost about $100. Eric’s three-hour ER resuscitation effort cost the insurance company over $15,000. How many children must die for us to give merit to the importance of simple heart screenings? It can literally mean the difference between life and death.
Screenings and AEDs could prevent fatal cardiac arrest in your teen.
Eric’s foundation provides free screenings to teens to help identify cardiac anomalies that may lead to SCA, with the ultimate goal of standardizing cardiac screenings among our youth, and equipping schools with readily accessible automated external defibrillators (AEDs) with CPR/AED training for students and staff. The biggest misconception about SCA is that it won’t happen to your teen. You have no family history…your child has no symptoms…your doctor has not indicated a screening was needed. But there is a dangerously low awareness of SCA among parents and the medical community, even though it’s the number one causeof death in the U.S.
