Young hearts deserve more

The Young Hearts for Life® (YH4L) Cardiac Screening Program, nationally known for its unique model, has screened over 150,000 students for conditions that cause sudden cardiac death. This milestone is a first for any heart screening program of this kind in the United States. Each week, sudden cardiac death claims the lives of more than 60 young adults in the United States.

The YH4L heart screening program was founded by Dr. Joseph Marek in 2006 and is well known for its unique model that uses trained community volunteers to deliver a low cost, efficient screening program. Dr. Marek, an internationally recognized cardiologist, has taught physicians across America how to run screenings for students and athletes.

More than 13,000 community volunteers have been trained to provide students with FREE ECGs through YH4L. To date, over 2,000 students screened through YH4L have been identified as “at risk.” Of those, hundreds were found to have life threatening conditions, including Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, Long QT Syndrome, Wolff-Parkinson- White Syndrome (WPW), Brugada Syndrome, and Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Dysplasia.

YH4L is the largest youth heart screening program in the United States. One of our goals is to educate the community about sudden death in young adults and to help schools be prepared to deal with cardiac arrest if one was to occur.

In addition to Advocate Heart Institute, the Young Hearts for Life screening program is blessed with many generous sponsors. Without the support of these sponsors (local hospitals, schools, community groups, foundations) we would not be able to continue our important mission to prevent sudden death in our youth. Thank you to everyone who has made these screenings possible.

For more information about these life-saving screenings, including scheduling and sponsorship opportunities, visit Young Hearts for Life.