"Who We Play For" screening credited with saving students; board proclaims Heart Health Month

The Brevard Public School Board adopted a Heart Health Month proclamation and heard testimony from Who We Play For, a nonprofit that provides ECG screenings in district schools, including a first-hand account from a young man who credited a screening with identifying a life-threatening condition.

Stacy Carticini, heart-screening director for Who We Play For, said the organization is conducting screenings across the district, focusing on sixth graders at minimal or no cost. "The ECGs that we provide, for free, no cost or low cost, are saving lives across the county," Carticini said. She said the program is working with schools to screen students and follow up with cardiology review when screening flags concerns.

James, introduced during the presentation as a student saved by the program, described being diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy after an eighth-grade screening. James told the board that knowledge of his condition led friends, family and coworkers to recognize a medical emergency when he had sudden cardiac arrest as a senior; immediate action and CPR helped him survive. "Because my friends and my coworkers knew that I had a heart condition that Who We Play For found earlier in my life, they were able to get the ball rolling, and it ended up causing me to be able to come back and be able to stand here today," he said.

Who We Play For representatives said their internal counts and staff comments indicate the screening program has identified dozens of students with conditions requiring follow-up; one presenter said the program has already "saved 68 kids" through its screening process. The presenters told the board the condition is often genetic, and screening a single student can lead to identification of affected family members.

The presenters emphasized two clinical points: (1) the nonprofit screens many children who are not athletes and urges that screenings be offered broadly, and (2) electrical abnormalities can be missed on routine physical checks: the presenters stated that some electrical abnormalities are missed by standard stethoscope exams in many cases. Carticini said the county was among the first in the nation to run the program at scale in schools and urged continued district support.

The board read and unanimously adopted a Heart Health Month proclamation recognizing cardiovascular health efforts in schools and encouraging community awareness and screenings. The proclamation language, read by a board staff member, encouraged students and families to engage in heart-healthy activities and acknowledged district support for screening programs.