The Wahkiakum County Eagle - Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891

PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center in Longview and PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center in Vancouver are teaming with Spencer’s HeartStrong Foundation and the Quinn Driscoll Foundation to offer free heart screening clinics for students across Southwest Washington this Saturday.

There is no cost to the students, who will receive diagnostic care valued at more than $1,000. There is a suggested donation of $25 to the foundations, which will go to place automatic defibrillators throughout southwest Washington.

Cowlitz County’s Teen Heart Screen is scheduled for Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the PeaceHealth Lakefront Clinic at 1718 E. Kessler Boulevard in Longview.

This Saturday’s screenings will help detect serious heart conditions that can cause Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA). This includes hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), the leading cause of SCA in young athletes. HCM is believed to exist in roughly 1 in every 500 teenagers. One case of sudden cardiac death occurs every three days in organized youth sports across the United States.

Any Southwest Washington middle or high school student ages 12 – 18 years old is eligible. Student athletes are the primary focus of the screening, as a student athlete with an undetected cardiac issue is more vulnerable through their athletic activities to suffering a cardiac event. This screening does not take the place of the pre-performance examination requirement for all student athletes who wish to participate in a school sport.

In Cowlitz County, visit Spencer’s HeartStrong website at http://www.StopYouthSCA.org to register. Spencer’s HeartStrong Foundation was created by the family of Spencer Best, a Cowlitz County athlete who survived a sudden cardiac arrest in 2012. Clark County student athletes should register through http://www.swHeartCheck.org.

Or register online at http://www.StopYouthSCA.org.