Junior Woman's Club combats heart condition in youth
By Angela Greiner Community Reporter

Marlborough - Although it is rare, Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) often results in death for children and teenagers, but routine check-ups for schoolage children do not include screening for potential cardiac arrest or stroke.

In an effort to combat the con- dition in what appear to be relatively healthy children, the Marlborough Junior Woman's Club (MJWC) has teamed up with the Marlborough Public Schools and Heart Screening of America (HCS) to bring a Heart Screening Day to the Marlborough school district. The screening will be held at Marlborough High School Thursday March 6 from 4 to 8 p.m.

MJWC member Kathleen Goneau, who initiated the program, said that she first became aware of SCA through the media after hearing stories of local children dying on the ice or the lacrosse field. As the mother of athletic children ranging from middleschool to college-aged, Goneau was concerned.

"I was fearing for my children," Goneau said. "Children struck with SCA did not have symptoms that would suggest these kids had issues. I began to question: what does healthy mean in an annual doctor's appointment?"

What alarmed Goneau was the discovery that doctors do not routinely screen for this condition unless there is a strong family history or symptoms because insurance companies do not pay for preventative screening for it.

The screening offered on Heart Screening Day will cost parents $49 per test, a fraction of the $500 to $800 in-office rate for similar services.

"Forty-nine dollars is not a lot of money to protect your children's future health," Goneau said.

Despite the reduced cost, Goneau said, the organization is aware that there are families who may not be able to afford the screening and the MJWC is exploring options to subsidize the cost for some students.

According to Goneau, she went from being aware of the condition to proactive after she went to a presentation given by former Marlborough student Katie Jerdee, who was one of the lucky survivors of SCA during her freshman year in college.

"Hearing her story and [hearing about] her courage to learn to walk and talk again was very inspiring," Goneau said.

After some online research Goneau discovered HCS, an organization that offers direct consumer heart screening for large populations and began to work as with MJWC and school representatives to offer Heart Screening Day.

"If you can find something medically that is preventative for your child, then you should do it," Goneau said.

Marlborough High School Principal Mary Carlson has been active in bringing the screening opportunity to the district.

"As a former health educator, I believe that this is an ideal opportunity for parents," Carlson said in a press release about the event.

The heart screening, which will be open to all children between the ages of 6 and 18, consists of a family and personal heart history survey, blood pressure reading, body mass index calculation, and an echocardiogram that is reviewed by a board-certified cardiologist.