Nonprofit offering free heart screenings to young people
Staff say 1 in 200 children have underlying heart condition and screenings can detect most of them.
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A nonprofit is offering free heart screenings to people ages 8 to 25.
"In A Heartbeat" will be offering nine free screenings across the state over the next two months.
The nonprofit was founded by Mike Papale a decade ago to raise money and awareness for sudden cardiac arrest and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
The organization provides CPR instruction and donates Automated External Defibrillators (AED).
According to the nonprofit's website, when Papale was 17, he experienced sudden cardiac arrest and there was no AED on site.
Papale survived thanks to quick intervention.
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"I was a young, seemingly healthy guy. I was living with a heart disease I didn't know about, so it was just a big opportunity for education for us, and we felt the need to kind of pass that along to other people by raising awareness," he says.
Staff say 1 in 200 children have underlying heart condition and screenings can detect most of them.
"Sudden cardiac arrest kills 23,000 children every year in our country, so it's really incredible to be able to bring this opportunity to our communities so that people won't lose their children," says Caroline de Lasa.
