Medical club will provide free electrocardiogram (EKG) testing on November 6th this year.
This year T-Ann Pierce of the Max Schewitz foundation is working with students in participating schools to raise awareness of the existence of problematic heart conditions and promote sign-up for free EKG testing. At Lake Zurich, medical club holds responsibility for this.
EKGs use the electroactivity of the heart to check for heart irregularities called murmurs. Although not all murmurs are an issue, some of them are, and some of them can cause cardiac arrest with no prior warnings. The Max Schewitz foundation works with schools in the Chicagoland area to provide free EKG tests.
The ambassador program puts raising awareness of the service and educating students largely in the hands of medical club to maximize the number of students who get their hearts checked. There are also about 200 parent volunteers that will help with testing.
“What we’re looking for is any heart abnormality. And if anything shows up on an EKG, we have a cardiologist look at it,” Pierce said. “If [he or she] thinks it needs further review, we have an echocardiogram test. [With that] we can determine if there is a possible abnormality, which may lead to Sudden Cardiac Death [if not treated].”
Jack Herman, senior, had an operation after testing [positive for a problematic murmur] and now speaks on behalf of the foundation. Hermann did a speech about EKG testing at the homecoming assembly.
Alex Rasiarmos, head of medical club, encourages everyone to sign up even if they’ve tested before because heart conditions can arise even in late adolescence. If there wasn’t a problem before there might be one now.
An EKG would normally cost a good amount according to Rasiarmos. At Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington heights, for example, which has an emergency care center next to the Lake Zurich Walgreens, an EKG will cost $278.
“The [Max Schewitz] foundation does fundraisers every June [through bear boosters],” Rasiarmos said.
According to Rasiarmos, medical club intends to promote sign-up in physical education, at lunch and through whatever other means are available to them.
