Screens For Teens Made Possible By CLC Foundation

Bringing the Screens for Teens event to the was not initially on the books.

While the target age for sudden cardiac death is between 17 and 22, the Max Schewitz Foundation had tested only high school students until it offered the program at on Sept. 14.

Michelle Grace, ’s director of health services, began her mission to bring the testing to college students when her daughters were screened at their high school three years ago.

“I think if we can even find one person who we help out of 1,000, it is well worth it,” Grace said.

She helped apply for a grant from the College of Lake County Foundation, which came through this year in the form of more than $6,000.

“Obviously this is going to impact our students and our community,” said Bill Devore, executive director of the College of Lake County Foundation. “Things like this is exactly what we want of our Foundation.”

When asked if the Screens for Teens program eventually could become a biannual initiative, Devore said “many times our grants are seed money for future events that CLC could eventually fund.”

Warning Signs for Sudden Cardiac Death; Future Screening Events

The statistics on the number of young adults who die of sudden cardiac death are very inconsistent.

While the American Heart Association does not require EKG testing as part of the standard of care among physicians in the United States, Screens for Teens is making great efforts in spreading the word about being informed.

Dr. Eli Lavie said warning signs for young adults to look for that could help detect a predisposition to sudden cardiac death include fainting, heart palpitations, chest discomfort and shortness of breath.

He added that teens should consider getting checked if there is a family history of heart problems.

“We’re talking about fairly rare conditions, but you have to think about how absolutely devastating it could be if it went undetected,” Lavie said.

Screens for Teens will visit several Lake County schools in the coming months. Future testing events include:

• St. Viator – Sept. 21, 2011
• Vernon Hills High School – Sept. 28, 2011
• Stevenson High School – Oct. 11-13, 2011
• Glenbrook South High School – Oct. 26, 2011
• Antioch High School – Nov. 9, 2011 
• Glenbrook North High School – Nov. 16-17, 2011
• Lake Zurich High School – Feb. 8, 2012
• Warren Township High School, Almond Campus – Feb. 29, 2012
• Warren Township High School, O’Plaine Campus – March 7, 2012

For more information log on to the Max Schewitz Foundation’s website.

• Read more in CLC Students Take Heart Health Into Their Own Hands.