Initiating a sports screening physical with cardiac testing event in your community is possible and can potentially save a young athlete's life. Below are tips to help make it a reality and ideas to help get this important health event off the ground.

Tips to start a sports screening physical with cardiac testing event in your community

Sports screening physicals with cardiac testing may help uncover serious health issues that may affect a student athlete's performance and potentially even save his or her life. These health issues include non-heart-related conditions that require medical attention and treatment or congenital heart conditions like hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) that can lead to sudden cardiac arrest (SCA). Because SCA can occur without warning, it's important that young athletes obtain a sports screening physical with cardiac testing. Simple testing procedures may help uncover serious conditions before they strike. Costs for cardiac testing in doctor's offices can be prohibitive, making community screening events so much more important.

If you are interested in starting a sports screening physical with cardiac testing event in your community, the following are a few tips to consider:

1. Start small - It's recommended that you work with a local school in your community to kick-off the first sports screening event. Get an interested coach involved. After you've had success with one screening, you can build upon your success by incorporating additional schools.

2. Obtain funding/equipment - Obtain financial assistance through third-party partnerships or other sources which may include the following:

• A local American Heart Association chapter
• Applying for grants with local and national foundations
• Find out if a local medical device manufacturer representative can assist you in acquiring or leasing Electrocardiogram (ECG) and Echocardiography (echo) machines for screening events. In one study, ECG screening detected conditions that led to 60% of sudden cardiac arrest in young competitive athletes. Moreover, the test increased the likelihood of detecting HCM by 77%.

3. Enlist the help of volunteers - Enlist the help of people who can provide assistance. People are more likely to donate their time if they feel the program could potentially save a life. Additionally, the more volunteers you have, the better it is since there is always the possibility of someone not showing up.

• Students at medical assistant schools and medical universities are usually eager to put their skills into practical use-contact local universities and/or medical schools for potential volunteers
• Medical assistant schools
• Encourage community involvement:
• Parents
• Athletic Directors and Team Trainers
• Coaches
• School Principals

4. Obtain medical assistance - Identify and partner with local cardiologists who are willing to donate their time to assist with the screenings. Cardiologists can help read the results of the cardiac tests and relay results to patients and their families.

5. Participation - Work in conjunction with your local high school or college to inquire about involvement in a screening event. You can use your local high school and/or college as your recruitment base to get students to attend the screening. You might even consider going to the school district for help.

6. Identify a venue - Identify a convenient location for the screening event. The venue should be:

• Easily accessible
• Include discretionary areas by incorporating rooms for tests needing privacy
• Include some privacy by incorporating private rooms for female athletes
• Able to accommodate the number of expected attendees
• Designed to allow for physician/patient consultation
• Able to adequately allow for easy handling and maneuverability of medical equipment (i.e. ECG and echo machines)

7. Set a date and time - The most ideal time to set a sports screening physical with cardiac testing event is on a Saturday as more families are likely to attend.

8. Get people there! - Distribute flyers with parental consent forms and posters around the community and in schools. It's important that you obtain permission before posting any posters. Posting the event in a local newspaper or magazine's "calendar of events" section is another good way to help spread the word. Additionally, it's recommended that notice of the event is sent out at least six to eight weeks prior to the screening event.