Free heart screenings in Sacramento for 12- to 25-year-olds on April 14

(SACRAMENTO)

Every year, 23,000 children suffer sudden cardiac arrest in the United States. The Kyle J. Taylor Foundation (KJTF), in collaboration with UC Davis Health and Project ADAM Sacramento, is hosting a free youth heart screening event to help identify youth with undiagnosed heart conditions.

Inside of a medical tent, a boy lies on a table while a female volunteer puts probes on his chest. A man sits with a laptop at a table.
One participant receives a heart screening within a medical tent.

The free event will be on Sunday, April 14, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Folsom High School, 1655 Iron Point Road, Folsom. It’s for ages 12 to 25.

The screening takes about 40 minutes to complete. It includes a cardiac risk assessment, an electrocardiogram (EKG) and a physician review.

The EKG is a simple and painless test that records the heart’s electrical activity using small sticky electrode patches attached to the skin of the chest. Structural and electrical heart issues, which can cause sudden cardiac arrest in young people, can often be detected in an EKG.

The screening aims to prevent sudden cardiac arrest risk in children and young adults. Annual physical examinations and sports pre-participation physicals can miss about 85 to 90% of issues that can cause sudden cardiac arrest in youth.

This is the fourth time that Project ADAM Sacramento, UC Davis Health and Kyle J. Taylor Foundation have partnered to host a screening at a Sacramento-area high school since 2022. In total, 1,122 young people have been screened. Of those 24 were identified with serious abnormalities, including Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome, bicuspid aortic valves, Long QT and ectopic atrial bradycardia.

Register for the free heart screening.

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