Youth Heart Watch Program Serves as Resource During Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) Awareness Month and Beyond
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Since 2002, Youth Heart Watch (YHW), an affiliate of Project ADAMÒ, has been a resource for the community to help prevent sudden cardiac death (SCD) in children and adolescents across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. Led by CHOP pediatric cardiologist, Victoria Vetter, MD, MPH, YHW aims to prevent SCD through awareness, education, advocacy, research and heart screenings at no cost to the community.
Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) occurs when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating and electrical function is lost. If cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and an automated external defibrillator (AED) are not used to help return a victim’s heart to a normal rhythm, sudden cardiac death will occur. Sudden cardiac arrest affects an estimated 23,000 children each year in the US and can be caused by inherited heart conditions, electrical conditions, congenital heart disease, acquired heart disease, substance or drug use, or a blow to the chest. Due to some publicized events this year, awareness of sudden cardiac arrest has increased, causing more people to want to learn CPR, find out if their schools, sports teams, and communities have AEDs, and have their children’s hearts evaluated.
In 2014, Youth Heart Watch was awarded CHOP Cares Community Grant funds to support the Healthy Lives, Healthy Hearts project that provided heart screenings and promoted general heart health as part of their ongoing Heart Health Screening Study (HHSS). The aim is to prevent sudden cardiac death by screening and educating youth and identifying conditions that place our children and adolescents at risk so that appropriate evaluation and treatment can occur. In addition, the HHSS provides education about healthy lifestyles (healthy eating and exercise) and avoiding risky behaviors to prevent heart conditions in adults that begin during childhood. Dr. Vetter and her team were able to hold two events with these funds and screen over 380 children. In the almost 5000 children screened in the HHSS since its onset, over 40 previously unknown significant heart conditions have been identified and treated. Youth Heart Watch applied for additional CHOP Cares EXCEL Grant funds in 2023 to continue support for four more screenings in 2024. These future screenings will continue to evaluate children and identify potential heart conditions, but will expand on previous healthy weight and lifestyle education to include gun safety and violence prevention, vaping and smoking cessation, substance abuse and other adverse childhood events and stresses that can contribute to cardiovascular disease. The first screening event will be held in partnership with the Daniel E. Rumph II Foundation on February 10, 2024, at the Germantown Boys and Girls Club, with future events being planned.
Heart screening can detect many heart conditions that put a child at risk for experiencing a SCA, but not all conditions can be identified through these screenings; and SCA can occur due to a blow to the chest, commotio cordis, as witnessed in an NFL game in January 2023. Because a cardiac arrest can occur at any time and to anyone, as many heart conditions are not diagnosed until the cardiac arrest occurs, it’s critically important to be prepared to respond to a cardiac arrest when it does occur. In the nationally shared cases of Damar Hamlin and Bronny James, these athletes were fortunately surrounded by staff who recognized a cardiac event immediately and acted quickly. Through Youth Heart Watch’s Heart Safe Schools and Communities Program, schools, athletic teams and community sites are taking steps to prepare staff and volunteers to save a life. The YHW team works with these groups to help them obtain and maintain AEDs, put together a team trained in SCA awareness, CPR and AED use, create written cardiac emergency response plans and hold realistic drills to practice their skills and plan. To date, YHW has designated over 60 sites as Heart Safe and are working with over 100 more.
In 2017, YHW was awarded CHOP Cares Grant funds to provide AEDs to 20 Philadelphia Charter Schools and provide training to more than 215 staff members in CPR and AED use. To facilitate training even more community members, Youth Heart Watch applied for additional Cares Grant funds to create the CPR and AED Training Equipment Lending Library and launched the program in FY23. The Lending Library allows community groups serving youth who are offering free trainings or practice drills to borrow manikins, AED trainer or comprehensive training kits free of charge. This borrowing system will eliminate financial barriers to life-saving trainings and extend the team’s reach to even more individuals and youth programs in the community.
If you are interested in learning about Youth Heart Watch’s Heart Safe Schools and Communities Program check out their website, complete an inquiry form for your child’s school to receive these services, or email them at YouthHeartWatch@chop.edu.
