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Chicago-area foundation provides free EKG testing for teens

The Highland Park News reports that more than 10,000 students in Chicago-area schools have received free electrocardiograms underwritten by the Max Schewitz Foundation.

The Max Schewitz Foundation provides free EKG testing for Chicago-area high school students.

The Max Schewitz Foundation was created by David and Mary Beth Schewitz in memory of their son Max, a conservationist and wildlife educator (Max & the Wild Things) who died of sudden cardiac arrhythmia in 2005 at age 20. The foundation’s Screen for Teens program provides free cardiac screening at school to students whose parents give permission.

“The leading cause of sudden cardiac death in young adults is triggered by a hidden heart defect that is both detectable and treatable,” it says on the foundation website. “An EKG screening test on physically active young persons can mean the difference between sudden cardiac death and a nearly normal life span.”

A profile of Mary Beth Schewitz in the current issue of Real Simple magazine notes that of the more than 10,000 students screened through the foundation’s EKG program, 142 teens have been identified as at-risk for sudden cardiac death. The mother of one teen bought an automatic external defibrillator for the house.

“We feel so lucky that Konrad had the test,” says his mother, Monica, who got a defibrillator for their house. “We wouldn’t have known there was a problem until it was too late.”

Family donates AEDs in memory of late son

The Abbots Langley school in Watford, UK, received a Powerheart G3 automated external defibrillator (AED), thanks to the generosity of the family of the late Wayne Pope.

Pope died at age 30 from Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome (SADS) in 2005. Had an AED been available when he collapsed, his life might have been saved.

Since his death, Pope’s parents and brother have been raising money for Wayne’s Fund and using the fund to purchase defibrillators for donation to local schools. The fund has a partnership with an ambulance service, which will provide training to school staff when a defibrillator is donated.

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