Young Hearts for Life - 2012 Recap
With the support of generous donors and the work of a record-number of volunteers, Lemont High School partnered with the Midwest Heart Foundation and Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital to offer all Lemont High School students free cardiac screenings on March 1, 2012. Approximately 750 students took advantage of the Midwest Heart Foundation’s Young Hearts for Life (YH4L) Cardiac Screening program's visit to Lemont High School.
The Midwest Heart Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that provides free cardiac screenings – this includes an electrocardiogram (i.e., EKG or ECG), and also may include an echocardiogram. These screenings help identify high school students who may be at risk for sudden cardiac death. Nearly 70,000 students have been screened since the inception of the Young Hearts for Life program in 2006.
A simple EKG can be used to screen physically active students and detect certain serious heart conditions. Recording the heart’s electrical activity using electrodes attached to the skin with a mild adhesive, an EKG can detect approximately 60 percent of the “abnormalities” or markers from heart conditions associated with sudden cardiac death. EKG testing is recommended every two years, through the age of 25.
With the success of the Young Hearts for Life program's first visit to Lemont High School in the books, the school looks forward to welcoming it back in future years.
Parents/guardians may visit the Young Hearts for Life website to learn more about the cardiac screening program. A student's individual results may be obtained by clicking on the appropriate link from the YH4L page.