The coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is due to a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and was first reported in late 2019. This virus has had a massive global impact resulting in the deaths of millions of people. COVID-19 has a broad range of clinical presentations from completely asymptomatic...

Dr. Dermot Phelan MD, Ph.D., FESC, FASE, FACC a staff cardiologist from the Cleveland Clinic interviews Samantha Krouse, Manager of GotAED about sudden cardiac arrest, the importance of early defibrillation and resources to get AED devices. Dr. Phelan: The sudden cardiac death of a young athlete or pupil has a...

I grew up in Ohio. I graduated from Ohio State. I met my wife there.  I love the Buckeyes.  However, today, as they hold the funeral service for Ryan Fischer, my heart is in Michigan.  Ryan was Grandville’s hockey team captain and he died from an enlarged heart on the...

This is an interesting conclusion. The best part is that they are spending time researching this issue.  Furthermore, if SCA occurs more frequently off the field, then it’s happening a lot, because it is also the #1 cause of death of student athletes. TORONTO – The stories are always shocking:...

Earlier this month, a study was published in the Journal of American Board of Family Medicine.  The study finds that 72% of all students that experienced sudden cardiac arrest exhibited symptoms.  This number is much higher than previously thought.  The study also confirms that many of the symptoms are ignored...

New guidelines outlining the causes and prevention of sudden death among athletes were released this week by the National Athletic Trainer’s Association (NATA) in the United States. “These guidelines were developed for any level of sports participation, and to truly help save a life,” NATA President Marjorie Albohm said in...

This is a huge step in the right direction.  We can’t have an informed discussion about kids dying until we really know how many died and WHY they died.  I hope that this database will also track how many of these kids died from cardiac events.  Did you know that...

A Federal Government Advisory Committee is urging the use of this test.  Two Governors (Maryland and New Jersey) recently signed laws mandating the use of this test.  Clearly, the hearts of newborns are front of mind. These laws require that a Pulse Ox test be performed on all newborns.  The test...

The Stanford study released this week shows that pediatric cardiologists are not very good at interpreting the ECG exams.  This is an institutional problem that should be corrected by the medical community.  Unfortunately, articles like the one below, are misleading the public by suggesting that the tests that look for heart condition in...

Congrats to our friend, Dr. Joe Marek, for getting this study published.  He is proving that hearts screening for our kids are effective, affordable, managable and save lives.  This issue is debated, but there are no U.S. studies that show hearts screenings are ineffective, unaffordable, unmanagable and don’t save lives.  ...