HF2156 SF0291 is in Senate awaiting sequence.
Essays
Essay
My model Legislsture bill is for any organization or school that requires you to pay a fee and must also require that athletes submit a medical eligibility form signed by a physician saying that they have been screened for conditions linked to cardiac arrest. One of these conditions is Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy which is inherited and often goes undiagnosed in many young children. This condition has also been know to cause Sudden Cardiac Arrest in many young people. This test would be done by running a 14-point history and physical examination which includes an echocardiogram (ECG0 as well as using a double-cuff blood pressure measurement device.
By passing this bill I believe that it would increase the safety of youth athletes. It would most likely decrease the amount of Sudden Cardiac Arrests that happen in athletics today which would then in turn decrease the amount of injuries and deaths. associated with this condition. Sudden Cardiac Arrest not only happens at the youth level but at the pro level as well. As we've seen in the past 2 years many collegiate and pro athletes have suffered a cardiac arrest playing their respective sports. For example, there has been Damar Hamiln who needed to have CPR done to him on the field after suffering a hit to the chest mid-game. Also more recently, Bronny James, who collapsed at basketball practice due to a sudden cardiac arrest. James’ cardiac arrest was found to be caused by a Congenital Heart Defect that had been diagnosed. If he had prior testing done, there could have been a possibility that he would have never had the cardiac arrest to begin with. Due to this being seen on a national stage, we are now more aware that this really could happen to anyone and therefore we need to create some interventions to solve this problem and increase the safety of our athletes.
This bill will also help to educate more people and athletes on heart health. With a large population of youth athletes getting cardiac tests done, they will hopefully be more educated and aware of their heart health, and hopefully their health in general. For some younger children, this concept may be hard to grasp but as they grow older and more educated on the topic, they will have a better understanding of their health and really how much of a privilege it is to be able to be healthy and to receive proper medical care. This will also cause more bystanders and part of the coaching staff to become more educated about this condition, as well as more prepared for if there were to ever be a situation to arise while at a game, practice, etc.
By passing this bill we would be saving the lives of thousands of athletes who may one day suffer from Sudden Cardiac Arrest. According to the Mayo Clinic, “some reports suggest that about one in 50,000 young athletes to one in 100,000 dies of sudden cardiac death each year.” Many of these deaths happen because their condition goes untreated, but with this bill, we would be able to catch these conditions earlier and take action to prevent any other health problems that may occur. By doing this thousands of athletes will be given the proper medical treatment for their condition and hopefully continue to play the sport that they love without having to worry about any health risks that may occur.
Although this bill has good intentions, some downsides come with it. One of which is that it may become inconvenient for many families to go to the doctor and get tests done just so their child can play a sport. It can also negatively impact an athlete's chance of playing in any type of sporting event. If there happened to be an athlete that goes in to get this mandatory testing and they end up having a condition related to Sudden Cardiac Arrests it may affect their chances of being able to play a sport depending on the severity of their condition.
With this bill, I believe that we can save the lives of thousands of youth athletes just by doing a simple test. It would decrease the amount of injuries and deaths caused by sudden cardiac arrest and bring awareness to the condition itself. By effectively screening athletes we can keep them and their health a top priority so they are able to continue playing the sport that they love.
Sources
“Complications and HCM - Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Association.” Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Association, 8 Sept. 2021, 4hcm.org/hcm-complications/#:~:text=HCM%20can%20increase%20the%20risk,can%20occur%20at%20any%20age.
Kaltman, Jonathan R., et al. “Screening for Sudden Cardiac Death in the Young.” Circulation, vol. 123, no. 17, May 2011, pp. 1911–18. https://doi.org/10.1161/circulationaha.110.017228.
Malik, Aneeq, et al. “Sudden Cardiac Arrest in Athletes and Strategies to Optimize Preparedness.” Clinical Cardiology, vol. 46, no. 9, July 2023, pp. 1059–71. https://doi.org/10.1002/clc.24095.
Prakash, Keerthana, et al. “Sudden Cardiac Arrest in Athletes: A Primary Level of Prevention.” Cureus, Oct. 2022, https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.30517.
“What to know about sudden death in young people.” Mayo Clinic, www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/sudden-cardiac-arrest/in-depth/sudden-death/art-20047571.