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BASTROP — Championship Hearts Foundation is coming to Bastrop High School from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, July 15 to offer free heart screenings for all athletes, band members, spirit groups and students ages 14-18. People from the Bastrop County area are also encouraged to volunteer to help with the next heart screenings.
CHF is a non-profit agency focused on the prevention of sudden cardiac death by screening teens for Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy and other cardiac abnormalities.
“Our mission is to prevent sudden cardiac death in the adolescent population,” CHF states on its official website. “By screening for unrecognized heart conditions, we also strive to provide reassurance for young athletes and their families.”
The heart screening event includes registration, screening info, signatures, measuring blood pressure, height, weight, electrocardiogram, echocardiogram and administering results. An electrocardiogram (ECG) records the electrical signals of the heart and is used to detect rhythm disorders, while an echocardiogram (ECHO) uses sound waves to capture images of the heart structure with detailed pictures for detecting heart abnormalities of heart wall thickness and congenital heart valve defects.
According to CHF, Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy is a serious heart condition that is the leading cause of sudden cardiac death in young athletes. Rarely having any identifiable symptoms, Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy affects approximately one in 500 student-athletes. CHF has conducted over 27,000 free student heart screenings since its beginning.
“We have over 20 years of experience conducting large-scale adolescent heart screenings,” CHF said. “Recent collaborations with Baylor College of Medicine, the University of Texas School of Public Health, and an endorsement by the Texas Chapter of the American College of Cardiology are a testament to our expertise.”
In addition to putting its focus on preventing Texas from death due to cardiovascular disease, CHF has a long history of traveling the state and partnering with big organizations.
For more information, visit https://www.champhearts.org/.
