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VIDEO: Hundreds participate in free heart screenings
An estimated 1 in 500 school-aged children suffer an undiagnosed heart defect, which can eventually lead to sudden cardiac arrest. Folsom Cordova along with Via Heart Project hosted a free heart screening event at Cordova High School open to all students aged 12 to 25 years old for students in the Folsom Cordova, San Juan, and Twin Rivers Unified School Districts. Volunteers ranging from students to employees within the district to police officers contributed to the success of the event.
Students went through a process of multiple stations, being evaluated at each one. "It was fairly easy," said freshman Jocelyn Steckelberg, ". . .I went and got checked out by my height and weight and then I got my blood pressure done. And so then we just went in and they asked us some questions for our pamphlet, and they checked my heart rate and I went over and saw a professional."
Through sponsors the event was offered to students free of charge. "Via Heart Project is a nonprofit organization based in San Francisco. We manage AED programs and CPR training for schools and communities. We started doing heart screenings a few years ago when we identified the need for a fully heart safe campus," explained Liz Lazar-Johnson, Executive Director of Via Heart Project.
Along the way students stopped at the CPR station where they were trained in sidewalk CPR by a police officer. It was a great way for students to interact hands on and get quality instruction from people they don't normally get a chance to interact with.
"It's kind of all-encompassing; they get their heart screened and then the teenagers leave here trained on what they need to do if they see a cardiac emergency. So high school students here at this school will know what to do if they see a peer or a teacher if something happens," said Jon Paul Seivane, EMS Sac-Metropolitan Fire District.
Parents praised the convenience of the event and the opportunity for preventative heart screenings. Parent Melani Singley said, "It's just a great way to get families out here to do something that they wouldn't normally be willing to do for insurance reasons or if their physicians don't offer it without specific issues."
Click here to watch the video for the Via Heart Project & FCUSD event.