INDIANAPOLIS — There's a new push for cardiac screenings for kids after Bronny James, the son of NBA All-Star LeBron James, suffered a cardiac arrest during basketball practice on Monday.
"It only takes a few minutes to potentially save your kids' life," said Ashley Beadles, Founder of Play Heart Smart.
According to the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, cardiac arrests are considered more fatal than heart attacks.
"Over 10,000 kids a year are suffering from sudden cardiac arrest," Beadles said.
It's a conversation that is sounding the alarm across the country on ways to protect more hearts.
"Fortunately, unfortunately, there's a lot of big names behind sudden cardiac arrest now. So, it is getting a lot more attention. However, this has been going on for years," said Beadles.
Monday, Lebron James' son, Bronny James suffered a cardiac arrest while practicing at USC.
This is just months after Buffalo Bills Safety Damar Hamlin suffered an on-field cardiac arrest in a game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
"Sports is a special risk for cardiac events and we know some about it we don't know as much as I would like to know about the risk," said Dr. Richard Kovacs, Professor at IU School of Medicine and national guidelines for professional athlete's cardiovascular evaluations.
He said detecting heart issues among athletes can be tricky because the symptoms are like what they experience performing competitively.
"We say tell us if we are short of breath tell us if you have chest pain tell us if you feel like you're going to faint or if you faint but among athletes, it's common to be short of breath it's common to have discomfort in your chest when you're competing and these athletes want to continue to compete and feel like maybe this is just natural for them," Kovacs said.
"I can't even fathom this happening to my own child. It's a passion that's been built out of witnessing the heartbreak of other parents having to live this," Beadles said.
Beadles said proactive measures truly save lives.
"Making the EKGs at a minimum part of sports physicals would be key in this I mean I think a lot of colleges are getting on board and mandating it for college athletes to do their sports there but we're seeing this happen in high school players right where it's high school students they are suffering sudden cardiac arrest so why not mandate it there," Beadles said.
Beadles’ nonprofit organization, Play Heart Smart, provides limited cardiac screenings to rule out sudden cardiac disease by using blood pressure readings, ultrasounds, and EKGs.
"Is going to be crucial in preventing things like this from happening or kid dying from sudden cardiac arrest having those tools and necessities there available to them," Beadles said.
"Training CPR for all coaches and teachers and having them certified in CPR but more importantly having 's having automatic external defibrillators available within 3 minutes for an athletic event or a practice and each school having an emergency action plan in writing, and I would urge that's practiced every year to be ready for these kinds of events because you can't predict when they're going to happen," Kovacs said.
Preventable measures are effective in the Hoosier state as of July 1st for all Indiana schools. A learning curve Kovacs said they are ready to attack.
"It's going to be complicated, and you know the heart association local cardiology associations lots of people are ready to help people with their emergency action plans the key thing is just to be motivated to have a plan," said Kovacs.
"CPR is not going to bring them back they need a shock especially if it's abnormal rhythm and when you suffer a sudden cardiac arrest you go into this abnormal rhythm and that AED is key to bringing them back, I mean that is what happened with Demar that is just what happened with Bronny, I can guarantee it those are key life-saving devices."
Play Heart Smart partners with organizations across the state to bring cardiac screenings to teens.
Saturday, July 29th, Play Heart Smart will be at Daleville High School from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. offering screenings for 25 dollars.
Saturday, August 5th, screenings will be free at Whiteland High School from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. Visit Play Heart Smart to register.
