Four Vashon High School students learned they have cardiac anomalies — and several others that they have high blood pressure — thanks to a heart screening event Tuesday, May 20, at the high school.
In total, 38 VHS students were screened as part of an inaugural student cardiac screening by the Sam Yates Community Foundation, said organizers.
In December 2023, the foundation teamed up with the Nick of Time Foundation to offer electrocardiogram (ECG) screenings to 353 young islanders. After that success, last week’s event was the Sam Yates Community Foundation’s first time hosting a screening on its own, and it will inform the foundation’s plans next year to expand the screening to all freshman and junior students at VHS — ensuring students are tested twice in their high school career as their hearts, like the rest of their body, continue to grow and change.
The four students found to have cardiac anomalies — heart defects which can range in symptoms from benign to life-threatening — received further evaluation, and advice for them and their parents from a cardiologist, according to organizers.
The screening also included training from Vashon Island Fire & Rescue on CPR and the use and location of AEDs on the island.
The Sam Yates Community Foundation honors the life and memory of Sam Yates, a standout VHS scholar and athlete who graduated from Washington State University in 2020. Sam, a second lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps, died unexpectedly of sudden cardiac arrest on June 23, 2022, at the age of 24 — just days shy of his graduation ceremony for his officers class at The Basic School.
Community support following his death — and the sudden cardiac arrest death of another much-loved islander, Andrew Walker — spurred the foundation, which aims to prevent further deaths from sudden cardiac arrest through the education and placement of AEDs on Vashon.
According to the Mayo Clinic, sudden cardiac arrest — when the heart suddenly stops beating — is the leading cause of death in young athletes. But the rapid and proper use of an AED delivers an electric shock that can reset a heart’s rhythm, potentially saving a life. Modern AEDs give the user instructions to follow along.
The foundation has placed AEDs at the VHS football field, under the scoreboard of the practice fields and at the Vashon Elementary School Fields. Another was recently installed by the baseball/soccer field at McMurray Middle School, Sam’s mother Jill Yates said.
And the foundation is working with “Project 100,” a nonprofit collaboration between King County, UW Medicine and other groups which aims to equip every sports field in the state with an AED that can be accessed within 100 seconds.
“It’s a big push, and we’ve already placed four of them in play fields,” Jill Yates said.
Granny’s Attic and the Vashon Health Care District funded the purchase of four Cardea 20/20 ECG units, which made the screenings possible, according to Jill Yates.
Dr. Ted Gibbons was the May 20 event’s cardiologist, and 15 volunteers helped provide the screenings, alongside VHS Principal John Erickson, school nurse Brandi Greenidge, and staff member Jackie Merrill, who organizers thanked for coordinating the event.
To find AEDs placed by the Sam Yates Community Foundation and others on Vashon, visit thumbsupfoundation.org/aed-locations. Learn more about the Sam Yates Community Foundation by visiting thumbsupfoundation.org.
