HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — Florida’s Second Chance Act officially goes into effect next month, mandating that any first-time high school athlete be required to get an electrocardiogram, or EKG.
The heart screening can spot a life-threatening heart defect that can lead to sudden cardiac arrest.
Watch the report from Larissa Scott
The non-profit, Who We Play For, has been hosting clinics across Tampa Bay to help students get these screenings.
"Sudden cardiac arrest is the leading cause of death in student-athletes on school campuses, and arguably all kids. 23,000 kids every single year suffer cardiac arrest," said Evan Ernst, Co-Founder of Who We Play For.
He’s been on a mission to get this bill passed.
"This will end up saving somewhere around 300 to 500 lives in the state of Florida this year," said Ernst.
Now to expand accessibility, the organization has partnered with Children’s Medical Center so families can get screened at one of their facilities.
"Access is everything for this," said Ernst.
"One of the things we were finding with our patients and all patients out in the community is that if parents weren’t aware of these events then they didn’t fill out the stuff so their children couldn’t get their EKGs done. Sometimes these events are only one day for example, and maybe the family wasn’t available to do it that day," said Dr. Lisa Cronin, Pediatrician at Children’s Medical Center.
Students can get both a sports physical and an EKG done at the same time if they make an appointment at a Children’s Medical Center location in Westchase, Palm Harbor, Trinity, or Lutz.
They don’t have to be a patient there and can utilize their expanded after hours weekday options or weekend appointments to accommodate working parents.
"With so many two-parent working families or single parents who are working, we’ve just really identified that your classic 9-5 model of providing pediatric care doesn’t work for a lot of people. A lot of people can’t get here during working hours. Parents should not have to be taking off work to do this stuff and we shouldn’t be pulling kids out of school for it," said Cronin.
"There’s nothing more important to this small team that’s obsessed with this for our non-profit than to make sure it’s accessible and equitable for every single kid. No matter their sport, no matter their location, no matter their socioeconomic status," said Ernst.
Creating an option for these screenings to be more accessible will make it easier for families, and more importantly—prevent tragic outcomes.
"This is life saving. I mean this is a service that is potentially going to identify patients that have any underlying cardiac disease that could predispose them to a sudden cardiac event while exercising," said Cronin.
"People have been chopping at this tree to try to save a generation of kids who just quietly died at their house or sports field or school," said Ernst.
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