5 Ways to Protect Your Teen From Sudden Cardiac Arrest

If you have a child, you know that there are a ton of things that you worry about. When they’re a kid, you worry about all sorts of germs and viruses. When they’re a teen, you worry about social influences, sports injuries, and when your child finally gets behind the wheel. One thing that you probably don’t worry about, though, is sudden cardiac arrest. Here are a few ways that you can protect your teen from sudden cardiac death.

Research Your Family History

Heart conditions such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy are genetic, so if other family members have died from unexplained cardiac reasons and they were under 50, talk with your doctor. He or she can set up tests to determine if your teen has any sort of cardiac issues and take the appropriate steps to treat them.

Know the Signs

Think about the time you’ve spent with your child. Do you remember them complaining about shortness of breath or a racing heart? Have they ever fainted? If they’ve fainted, it could be something as simple as low blood pressure or dehydration, but it could be a sign of something much worse. With shortness of breath or a racing heart, it could be a symptom of asthma, but it could also be a sign of a heart problem.

If you need to find a local doctor in a town like Denver, Colo., to turn to when asthma symptoms flare up, check out RateMDs or ZocDoc. The same sites could also be utilized to find a local cardiologist if it ends up being a heart issue.

You should ask for your child to have an EKG to text their heart’s electrical activity. Because these symptoms can be minor, they’re often ignored. Don’t ignore them. If there’s any history of heart disease in your family, there’s a chance your child could have it. The earlier it’s detected, the sooner it can get caught.

Fill Out the Pre-Participation Sports Physical Form

This form should be filled out for every single sports physical that your child has. The answers you provide on this form tells the physician to ask and assess the history and all previous physical exam findings. There are also additional forms for children with special needs.

Get Your Child Tested

There’s no such thing as being too careful when it comes to heart conditions. If your child has any of the symptoms listed above, you should request an EKG. Health physicals can identify up to six percent of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy patients, but EKG’s can identify HCM in up to 60 to 80 percent of those at risk.

If your child does have HCM, he or she will be closely monitored. You’ll have to visit the doctor regularly. If there’s abnormal electrical activity, you may have to have your child get an internal defibrillator. It’ll monitor your heart and detect your heart rhythm, and if there’s an abnormal beat, it’ll shock your heart back to normal.

Educate Others

When a young teen dies, especially when it’s someone’s teammate, people go into shock or denial. In this instance, it’s important to turn a devastating event into a proactive one. Encourage and educate your teen’s teammates or their friends to get tested. Ensure that people on the team are CPR certified, as early CPR after cardiac arrest increases chance of survival by 10 percent. Also ask if the coach has an AED available for the team. If an AED is administered shortly after cardiac arrest, survival chances increase by a massive 75 percent.

Any time a teen died unexpectedly, it’s a tragedy, but it’s even worse when you know that it could have possibly been prevented. Evaluate your family history. If there’s any sort of heart disease in your family or your child has exhibited symptoms, get your child tested right away. An EKG test takes about five minutes to complete, and it could potentially save your teen’s life.

Does your teen have any serious, documented cardiac issues? Or does your family have a history of early onset heart problems? Share your questions and concerns in the comments below.

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