Miami-Dade School Board unanimously approve mandatory heart screenings for student athletes
By Ari Odzer
Mandatory heart screenings are coming to Miami-Dade County Public Schools.
“It saves lives,” cardiologist Dr. Madeleen Mas said to the Miami-Dade County School Board.
The board agreed and voted unanimously on Wednesday to require electrocardiogram screening for all high school athletes.
“Thank you for prioritizing preventive screenings that can detect hidden heart conditions before they become tragedies,” said the CEO of Jackson Memorial Health System, Carlos Migoya.
The board’s vote comes less than three weeks after a private school athlete suffered a sudden cardiac arrest – but Wednesday's action was not inspired by that tragedy; it was in the works for more than a year. The item was sponsored by board member Roberto Alonso.
“As a student athlete myself growing up in high school, I experienced the loss of one of my fellow football players on the field due to cardiac arrest,” Alonso said.
The goal, Alonso said, is to have the policy in place before the start of the next school year, and through partnerships with Jackson, Baptist Health, and Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, the EKGs would be given free of charge.
“Screening about 333 athletes will pick up about one patient that may have a potential life-threatening disease, so absolutely, it’s worth it when you think of the number of athletes in our county,” said Dr. Mas, who is also the director of Pediatric Cardiology at Holtz Children’s Hospital.
The EKG does not find every problem, and some cardiologists do not think mandatory EKGs are the answer because they only detect about half of the causes of sudden cardiac arrest.
“I think in life, nothing’s foolproof, right, but if we can do something that’s minimally invasive, really does not cause any harm to our students, why not give it a shot?” Alonso said.
Doctors say sometimes EKGs find things which turn out not to be dangerous at all, but that determination is only reached after follow-up visits and testing, which can be expensive. However, board member Dr. Steve Gallon, also a former high school athlete, agrees with his colleague.
“Any time we take a measure to enhance student and athlete safety, it’s always a step in the right direction,” Gallon said.
Miami-Dade County Public Schools has now become the sixth school district in the state to require heart screening for all high school athletes.