Mercy Health, the MCORE Foundation, and the Cincinnati Ballet are partnering to educate and provide preventative heart screenings for youth dancers.
The goal is to screen dancers from 12 to 22 to prevent sudden cardiac arrest, or SCA.
MCORE Foundation will offer preventive baseline cardiac evaluations for youth dancers between 12 and 22 in the Greater Cincinnati area from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Oct. 8 at the Cincinnati Ballet’s Margaret and Michael Valentine Center for Dance, 1801 Gilbert Avenue, Suite B in downtown Cincinnati.
“One young person dies from sudden cardiac arrest every three days on a school campus in America. It’s tragic and unnecessary,” said Lisa Tennenbaum, executive director and CEO of MCORE Foundation. “Undetected congenital heart defects are the culprit, and routine heart screenings are the solution. SCA kills more than 400,000 people each year in the United States. More than 10,000 of these youths, aged 12 to 22.”
Sudden cardiac arrest is not a heart attack or heart disease, but rather it’s a life-threatening emergency that occurs when the heart suddenly stops beating. It strikes people of all ages who may seem to be healthy, even children and teens.
More than 350,000 children, teens and adults suffer annually SCA from an undetected heart condition, which can also be caused by a blunt blow to the chest, triggering a fatal heart rhythm—an electrical malfunction—that causes the heart to stop.
SCA is the number one killer of student-athletes and a leading cause of death on school campuses, according to Mercy Health and MCORE. School physicals and history forms miss about 90% of youth at risk. Fainting is the top warning sign of a heart condition.
“We are eager to enlist the support of Mercy Health to inform dancers and parents about the need to screen youth for heart defects,” said Tennenbaum. “More awareness saves lives.”
For more information or to register, go to www.mcorefoundation.org. Limited spaces are available and registration is required.
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