Milford Boys Basketball Teams Undergo Heart Screening
Milford High School’s boys basketball players scored a win for their health Dec. 21 by undergoing a series of cardiac tests at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak.
Freshman, junior varsity and varsity players participated in the hospital’s Student Heart Check program, which screens for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and other heart conditions. HCM is a disease that causes the heart muscle to enlarge and impair heart function.
Jennifer Shea,Student Hearth Check program manager, said the 40 Milford students were given the green light to continue playing sports, although a handful were advised to follow up with their doctors. None were told to immediately stop playing sports because of the test results.
“We had seven to eight kids that need to see the doctor for something either we discovered or some was just family history and they had reported symptoms before seeing us,” she said. “We usually have 10-20 percent we refer for follow up.”
In its 10-year history, Students Heart Check has screened 14,330 teens, ages 13-18.
We’ve had 185 kids who were asked to stop playing (sports) and seven confirmed with HCM, which is what the screening is looking for,” Shea said.
According to the American Heart Association, HCM is a common cause for sudden cardiac arrest in young athletes.
“There are a lot of different conditions that can lead to cardiac arrest. That is the leading cause of death in athletes," Shea said.
Shea said Beaumont generally holds free screenings in the community at schools — it was at Milford High School for a two-day screening in 2011 — community centers, YMCAs and other locations, rarely at the hospital. But the session that day was a direct result of Cole Painter’s death last month. Cole, a 15-year-old junior varsity player, died over the Thanksgiving holiday break from a sudden health crisis. He had attended basketball practice the day he died.
Cole passed away and the very next day I got an email from Lakeland High School asking for a screening," She said. "Then the day after that, I ended up getting tons of calls from parents. A basketball player’s dad called me and said, 'Can you do a screening? One of our players passed away.'”
Shea has screenings set for other locations and wasn’t sure how quickly Beaumont would be back in the Milford area.
"Knowing what happened and knowing that the school was really hoping to have a screening and wouldn’t be able to have one right away for the whole school because Milford is quite a distance from us, we called them and offered to do this evening screening, just to get the boys on this team screened so they’d feel better and maybe more safe," Shea said.
Getting screened
Varsity coach David Gilbert welcomed the offer.
"There’s no way we could say no,” he said. ”For me, I think this should be part of the physical process for our kids that get checked every single year. I hope this brings awareness. I would encourage people to do a little extra and get tested.”
Students who are unable to attend a Student Heart Check session in the community can be screened at the hospital. The cost is $25 and reservations are required. Screening is open to ages 13-18, athletes and non-athletes alike.
Milford basketball players received blood pressure tests, an electrocardiogram and an echocardiogram. They also practiced CPR basics and learned to use a defibrillator.
“We did this today in honor of Cole,” said Aiden Warzecha, a junior and varsity member, as he stretched out on an exam table for his first electrocardiogram test. “The biggest thing was to come out here and honor him by getting our hearts checked as a team.”
“We did this today in honor of Cole,” said Aiden Warzecha, a junior and varsity member, as he stretched out on an exam table for his first electrocardiogram test. “The biggest thing was to come out here and honor him by getting our hearts checked as a team.”
“I’m happy we’re going to make some of these kids happy and make their Christmas,” said Evan Johnson, a senior and varsity player. “I’m just happy I can help.”
Gilbert said the team also brought gifts for hospitalized teens.
“It was kind of our way to give back while they are helping us out here. I’m big into giving back and we talk about being character kids all the time. I wanted them to do something positive while someone is doing something positive for us.”
Story Credit: http://www.hometownlife.com/story/news/local/milford/2016/12/23/milford-boys-basketball-teams-undergo-heart-screening/95707816/
