For years now, Simon’s Fund has depended on high school groups, like National Honor Society, to help out at our heart screenings. These students have been amazing – prompt, courteous and mature. We’ve always valued the fact that students could helping us protect the hearts of other students. It is a very meaningful ingredient of our work.

Recently, we have discovered other ways for students to contribute to our mission. Medical students from Jefferson took vitals at our screenings. A graduate student from Fels School of Government at Penn, helped us reach out to lawmakers across the country about the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Prevention Act. Last weekend, six Physician Assistant (PA) students at Arcadia University were trained how to administer EKG exams on students. Two students from Haverford College created an app for us to use during our heart screenings to collect data.  This summer, students at Drexel University will develop a Simon’s Fund specific cause-related marketing campaign for eight different corporations as part of their marketing course.

Sure, Simon’s Fund greatly benefits from this arrangement. We don’t have a big staff, nor do we want one. This allows us to have more balls in the air and accomplish more of our objectives. But here’s what I really value about these relationships.

One of the biggest conclusions I drew from my years in school – high school, college and law school – was that the coursework did not prepare me for a job. I used to always wonder “when am I going to use this.” The students that work with Simon’s Fund don’t have to wonder. Chris may help pass a law while getting his Masters. Stephanie would have never learned how to do EKGs on kids in her program. Ivan knows how to develop an app for a company.  A marketing student may pitch and help launch a cause-related marketing campaign. This is priceless for both parties, particularly to those students whose lives will be saved as a result.

Within hours, news outlets everywhere, including blogs and social media, were commenting and reporting on the announcement. Awareness over the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, the availability of genetic counseling, insurance reimbursements and the pros and cons of her decision were being reviewed and dissected.

When an international celebrity of Jolie’s magnitude makes an announcement, the world pays attention. With one fell swoop, she managed to do more for breast cancer awareness than all the campaigns and races and walks for the cure combined. We applaud the difficult decision she made to open up about this very private matter and we’re sure those in the breast cancer prevention community rejoiced over the exposure she has brought to this issue.

As a small not-for-profit that works hard to raise awareness about Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) as the number one killer of student athletes, Jolie’s revelation is a reminder of the power of celebrity.

Darren and Phyllis who who lost their son Simon in 2005 from SCA founded Simon’s Fund. They are not celebrities. They are suburban parents who, through a heart-wrenching event, learned that thousands of kids die of SCA and decided to try and do something about it.

Each day our staff, board, and volunteers work tirelessly to educate parents, clinicians, coaches and athletes about this condition. We have helped to pass the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Law in Pennsylvania. We have partnered with world-class healthcare institutions to support research into SCA.

Through our screenings, website, social media, events and publicity, we broaden our audience and our message. Our story has appeared in People Magazine and have even been interviewed by Dr. Sanjay Gupta on CNN and are working with the NCAA on a research project to screen NCAA athletes.

Through these grass roots efforts we have screened close to 6000 children and each day we read news articles that schools are installing Automated External Defibrillators (AED), or that another state is considering legislation similar to what we supported in PA. All across the country, the word is spreading, in part due to the work we do at Simon’s Fund.

So last week we wondered what impact an international celebrity would make on our efforts to raise awareness. But that only lasted a moment, and then we went back to work. We’re getting ready for another screening next week.

It is a common refrain to hear that one of her kids is on a Z-pack. When you have three kids, a five-day treatment versus ten to get rid of an infection, always seems like the right thing to do.

While we are friendly, we are not friends and talking to any parent about how they care for their children can be a tricky situation.

Screening for Heart Defects

Last month, the FDA issued a warning that Z-packs can cause abnormal changes in the electrical activity of the heart. These changes may lead to a potentially fatal heart rhythm known as prolonged QT interval, in which the timing of the heart’s contractions becomes irregular. I mentioned the warning to my neighbor. She didn’t think it was relevant for her since none of her kids had heart conditions.

Then I mentioned some of the work we do at Simon’s Fund hosting free heart screenings for children to prevent Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA),  the number one killer of young athletes. She had no idea and it wasn’t pleasant seeing the look on her face.

None of her kids had been screened and I was happy to tell her about our upcoming screenings.

One of the most important missions of Simon’s Fund is to raise awareness of SCA in young athletes and why screening for heart conditions is so important. The FDA’s warning stated “that doctors should use caution when giving the popular antibiotic to patients known to have this condition or who have certain risk factors.”

While a pediatrician may ask if there is a history of heart conditions in the child’s family, if the child has never been screened and there is no record of any heart conditions, how will they know there is a risk factor? This is just further validation on why screening for heart defects in children needs to be a routine part of their healthcare.

As part of Simon’s Fund’s outreach and yours should be to ensure your child gets screened, ask your pediatrician about the side effects of Z-packs and together we can try to avoid any more unnecessary deaths.

Go Red began ten years ago when women realized that heart disease killed them too. At that time, no one was talking about women heart health.

Heart disease is the #1 cause of death of men. It is the #1 cause of death of women. It takes the lives of 350,000 adults every year, more than all of the cancers combined.

According to the Mayo Clinic, heart disease is a broad term used to describe a range of diseases that affect your heart, including diseases of your blood vessels, such as coronary artery disease; heart rhythm problems (arrhythmias); heart infections; and heart defects you’re born with (congenital heart defects).

Here’s a stat that I didn’t hear today. Almost 100% of all boys and girls will grow up to be . . . men and women.

Go Red is all about prevention, which is a good thing. So why don’t we start with the kids again? If all of the boys and girls will one day grow up to face heart disease, and along the way, some of them will drop dead from sudden cardiac arrest (because heart disease is the #1 killer of student athletes), shouldn’t we start this awareness with our kids? Shouldn’t we go Krimson for Kids?

I’m positive that it will be easier to teach a little girl to eat sweets in moderation or to exercise. Her heart will also avoid all those years of inactivity, fried foods and other bad stuff we do to our hearts. Isn’t this the real message of Star Jones?

It was a great lunch. The AHA deserves tons of credit for this lifesaving and imaginative awareness campaign. However, I can’t help but think how much more powerful and effective this effort would be if every woman was sitting next to her school-aged daughter next year.

If something comparable was introduced in the for profit world, analysts and shareholders would be going nuts. Investors are always looking for corporations to become more efficient in their delivery of products or services. They get even more excited when the new technology gives the corporation a pathway to fulfill one of its core goals.

The app makes our screenings paperless.  Medical volunteers can view student medical history information, and enter vital and heart information (ECG and ECHO) on the tablet. That data collected at the screening is combined with previously collected medical history information to create a complete cardiac record on the student.

This is a tremendous breakthrough for Simon’s Fund and the nonprofit screening community. This app will foster collaboration, data collection and research. Research based on scientific data is what is really needed now. To date, the debate about screening has been largely based on opinion and conjecture, particularly by those opposed to screenings. You’ll quickly find that they have never conducted heart screenings.  Now, because of these two students, the game is going to change.

Simon’s Fund is a nonprofit, but we are going to operate like we’re a corporation. As such, we are very excited about this latest development (even if Wall Street isn’t paying attention).

This blog post was contributed by Sally Sudman and written on Take Your Kid to Work Day.

The night before our screening, Louisville came from behind to beat Wichita State and Michigan powered through to beat Syracuse. As the world waited for the National Championship game, we worked with local doctors, first responders and volunteers to check the hearts of 225 students.  Five students were referred to a clinic for specific conditions.

We’d like to thank the the Cardiovascular Group taking the lead and hosting this event.  They are part of the Gwinnett Medical Center.  We’d also like to thank those groups that donated their services:  Children’s Cardiovascular Medicine, Pediatric Cardiology Services, Athletic Training Services, Gwinnett County Fire and Emergency and Project ADAM.

We hope to be back in the fall with Jeremy Nelson’s family to screen more hearts.

But for some players and coaches in the NCAA, survival means much more than advancing in the tournament.

Sudden cardiac arrest is the #1 cause of death of student athletes. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, it takes the lives of 2,000 students every year.  By many accounts, this number is low because we don’t track the causes of death of children in this country.

The sudden death of Hank Gathers 23 years ago is always mentioned when discussing the topic of sudden cardiac arrest, but we don’t need to look beyond this season, or even this year’s tournament to recognize the tragic impact that sudden cardiac arrest is having on our sport and our young athletes.

Coach Fred Hoiberg led the Iowa State Cyclones into the Round of 32.  He retired from the NBA seven years ago after discovering a heart condition.

Creighton University advanced into the Round of 32 without their guard, Josh Jones.  He retired from basketball earlier this year after undergoing a procedure to correct a heart condition.

Carl Hall, a starting forward for Wichita State, retired from basketball in 2009 due to a heart condition.  With medication, he has returned and is leading the Shockers to their first Final Four since 1965.  Guy Alang-Ntang, also a Shocker, was not as lucky.  He was recruited to play for the Shockers in 2007.  During an exhibition game, he collapsed and died.  Coach Gregg Marshall was in the stands the night he collapsed.

A recent study published by the American Heart Association shows that 1 out of every 3,100 NCAA Division I male basketball players is at risk of dying from sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) every year.  This year, it was Nathaniel Joshua “Erv” Ervin.  He collapsed and died during a basketball game at Mars Hill College.  It could have also been Danny Berger, a forward at Utah State University, who collapsed as well.  Fortunately for Berger, an AED device was able to shock his heart and save his life.

Is it acceptable that every year at least one NCAA basketball player will die from a detectable and preventable condition?  Josh Jones and Carl Jones had symptoms.  As such, they got their hearts checked.  Nathaniel Ervin and Danny Berger didn’t report any symptoms – their hearts did not get checked.

Checking the hearts of our student athletes makes sense.  In Italy, all of their student athletes get their hearts checked.  This practice reduced the incidence of sudden cardiac death there by 89 percent.  The NBA was the first professional league to institute mandatory heart screenings for its players.  Fred Hoiberg is just one of the many beneficiaries of this policy.  Last year, it was Jeff Green (Celtics) and LeMarcus Aldrige (Trailblazers).

A study published in the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine establishes that an ECG exam, coupled with a physical and complete medical history is the best way to detect and prevent conditions that lead to sudden cardiac arrest.

We need to start checking the hearts of our students because sports are supposed to be fun, not deadly.  It’s OK for us to wager on our Final Four pools.  It’s not OK for us to gamble with our children’s lives.

Millions of Americans filled out their brackets and hoped that their team would survive on the Road to the Final Four. However, for some players, survival takes on a whole new meaning.  A recent study published by the American Heart Association shows that 1 out of every 3,100 NCAA Division I male basketball players is at risk of dying from sudden cardiac arrest (SCA). Simon’s Fund, a Philadelphia based organization, is trying to reduce that risk providing a free heart screening for over 300 students in an Atlanta suburb on Sunday.

Wichita State Has Firsthand Experience with Heart Conditions

Guy Alang-Ntang was recruited by the Shockers in 2008. He would have graduated last year, and with a little good fortune, played in the NBA. Instead, Alang-Ntang dropped dead of an undetected heart condition during a pick up basketball game months before starting at Wichita State.  Coach Gregg Marshall was there the night he collapsed and died.

Around the same time, Carl Hall, a senior forward for the Shockers, was told that his basketball career was over because he kept fainting during competition — the primary warning sign of SCA.  He took two years off from basketball, and in 2009, was prescribed medication to control his heart condition.  He made his way to Wichita State in 2011 and on Saturday night, he will lead the Shockers in their first Final Four appearance since 1965.

“Watching Carl Hall play in the Final Four inspires us to continue to raise awareness about the importance of heart screenings for student athletes,” says Darren Sudman, Executive Director of Simon’s Fund, who lost his son Simon to SCA. “The big difference between Alang-Ntang and Hall is that Hall got his heart checked and treated. That’s why he’s here playing.”

Local Atlanta Community Shocked by Sudden Death of Two Promising Basketball Players

Last year, in a suburb of Atlanta, Buford High School junior, Adam Smith, and Buford Middle School student, Jeremy Nelson, died from SCA. They were both basketball standouts. Both may have been on the road to the Final Four. SCA ended their journeys.

On April 7, 2013, Simon’s Fund, working with the Cardiovascular Group in Lawrenceville, GA, will provide over 300 free heart screenings to students from the Buford and Gwinnett County School Districts.  In its eight- year history, Simon’s Fund has provided free heart screenings to 5,500 students.  One out of every 100 students checked discovers a heart condition.

At the screening, every student completes a medical history, has vital signs checked, and receives an ECG – a painless, non-invasive test that takes a couple of minutes. The ECG will be evaluated by local cardiologists.  Some students will receive an echocardiogram.

“As coaches, we spend so much time preparing our players, because we don’t we don’t to lose a game. We need to focus on sudden cardiac arrest, because losing a student athlete is much worse,” said Phil Martelli, men’s basketball coach of the St. Joseph’s University Hawks and First Vice President of the National Association of Basketball Coaches, which is meeting in Atlanta during the Final Four.