While most students are getting ready to head back to class, a Baldwin county teenager was receiving a special honor. Sam Cockrell, of Daphne, was awarded the Civil Air Patrol Spaatz on August 6, 2014. Congressman Bradley Byrne was in Foley for the presentation.

Sam Cockrell is the 49th cadet from Alabama to earn the award. He said it was a long journey.

“It’s just that more meaningful to me facing the challenges that I faced then being able to overcome them and then finally achieve this award that I worked almost six years for. It means a lot to finally be here,” explained Cockrell, Spaatz Award Recipient.

To read the rest of this article about Sam on the Fox10News page, click here.

The Lagniappe of Mobile and Baldwin Counties has featured an article about SCA in youth in this week’s issue. It is a great article, helping bringing awareness to the incidence of this deadly problem.

Here’s additional info regarding the 10-15% false positive rate quoted in the article – The Seattle Criteria has been developed and provides criteria specific to changes in an EKG that are common to an athlete. False positive rates have been greatly reduced because of the Seattle Criteria. Heart for Athlete’s doctor, Lynn Batten, will be using this criteria during our screenings, thus reducing the rate of false positives to 2-4%.

To read the entire article, click here.

Pediatric Cardiologist, Dr. Lynn Batten, partnering with Heart for Athletes to perform heart screenings on Saturday, August 16th, was recently interviewed about sudden cardiac arrest in young athletes.

“EKG’s are still not a mandatory part of pre-participation screenings,” she said. “An EKG and echo may not detect every condition that could cause sudden cardiac death, but it certainly improves the chances of detection compared to current screening techniques.”

On Aug. 16, 2014, Dr. Batten will partner with a local group, Heart for Athletes, to conduct a free heart screening event for 75 high school athletes at USA’s Springhill Avenue Campus from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The Heart for Athletes heart screening will include a health history form, blood pressure check, an EKG, and a brief echo.

The screening should take about 20 minutes, and all EKG’s and echos will be read by Dr. Batten. Other demonstrations, such as CPR and AED training, will be available for teens and their family members.

Dr. Batten recently gave an overview of this topic at the June Med School Café lecture. To view the lecture in its entirety, click here.

To read this entire article, click here.

To register for the heart screening event, click here.

Sam and I were asked to speak at the American Heart Association’s Team Captain Meeting for the USA Campus and Health System this morning. Sam is an excellent extemporaneous speaker – we’re very proud of him and his willingness to share his SCAx2 story and helping to make a difference in our community. Sam was the Survivor Speaker for last year’s AHA Heart Walk events in both Baldwin and Mobile counties.  Today he updated this story and told of his second SCA survival.

Only 12 more openings for heart screenings for the event coming up on August 16th in Mobile. I’m excited that it has filled up so quickly and am thankful for so many who are willing to volunteer their time and money to make this happen!

To learn more details about the screening event and to register, click here.  To make an online donation to help bring future screening events to our area, click here.

Below, (L to R) Olivia Ashurst, Sam Cockrell, Krista Harrell, associate dean of students at University of South Alabama, and Amy Cockrell

Registration for Heart for Athlete’s first screening event is now open.  Only 70 slots are available, so register you teenage student athlete today!

What: FREE Heart Screening Event
Who: Student Athletes, ages 13-18
When: Saturday, August 16th
Time: Appointments available from 9am to 4pm.
Where: University of South Alabama Springhill Ave Campus
Sponsored by: Heart for Athletes

Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) is not just an adult thing. It takes the lives of thousands of students every year. It is the #1 cause of death of student athletes.

With no prior warning signs, my 16 year old son suffered from a sudden cardiac arrest in May of 2013. Sam was subsequently diagnosed with Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Dysplasia (ARVD), a rare form of cardiomyopathy that caused his heart to electronically malfunction. Prior to the SCA, he was an elite triathlete, but after his diagnosis, he has been sidelined from all sports activities. He has a defibrillator implanted in his chest and takes medications to help control his arrhythmias.

After our family learned of the frequency of SCA in athletes, we realized that steps can be taken to prevent its occurrence. We started the Heart for Athletes foundation to serve the Baldwin and Mobile county areas to raise awareness and help screen and identify student athletes who have undiagnosed cardiac conditions. Our goal is to prevent SCA through heart screenings, and prevent sudden cardiac death through awareness and CPR/AED training.

Heart for Athlete’s first heart screening event will be on Saturday, August 16th. The University of South AL has offered us not only equipment, but also clinic space at their Springhill Avenue Campus (very close to Children’s and Women’s Hospital). This is a FREE event for athletes ages 13-18. The exam will take approximately 30 minutes and will include an EKG and echocardiogram. All of the participants’ tests will be reviewed by a cardiologist who will be on site and results of the screening will be given the same day.

The University of South Alabama will also provide CPR and AED training for everyone who comes – the kids screened, parents and siblings.

You must pre-register for the event. I anticipate a waiting list, so please let me know if you register, but cannot keep your appointment so that it can be made available for another participant.

If you know athletes in the 13-18 age range, let them know about this free event so that they can take advantage of this screening opportunity.

The conditions that lead to SCA are detectable, and deaths are preventable. Had my son been offered a heart screening before his SCA, his condition may have been detected, and the SCA possibly prevented. His miraculous survival and recovery were due to the availability of an AED at the scene of his cardiac arrest and quality bystander CPR. His story shows the need for both prevention of the SCA and preparedness once the SCA has occurred.

Click here to register your athlete today.