A milestone in making Vashon a heart-healthy and safe community occurred on Dec. 6, when close to 90 volunteers converged in Vashon High School’s gym to offer electrocardiogram (EKG) screenings to 353 young islanders ages 12 to 24.

The all-day event, spearheaded by Vashon’s Sam Yates Community Foundation and presented by the Nick of Time Foundation, conducted testing for silent heart abnormalities that can cause sudden cardiac arrest. But it also went a step further by teaching all participants how to use “hands-only” cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and portable automated external defibrillators (AEDs) to save the lives of their peers and loved ones.

For most of the participants, the event provided reassurance that all was well with their hearts. However, a few of those tested were identified as having heart abnormalities that required follow-up diagnosis.

Those participants’ family members were then directly contacted by Nick of Time’s executive director, who will work with them to set up follow-up appointments with Seattle Children’s Hospital and offer further help and guidance if needed.

Two foundations, one cause

The Nick of Time Foundation, a nationally known foundation based in Mill Creek, Washington, has screened more than 27,000 youth at more than 90 schools in Washington state.

The foundation promotes awareness about sudden cardiac arrest and how it affects children and young adults, and encourages the formation of school and community emergency action plans that include CPR/AED training and EKG youth heart screenings. It also promotes scientific research and legislation to address the issue.

Dovetailing this vision are the local efforts of the Sam Yates Community Foundation, created last year by the family of Sam Yates, a standout scholar and athlete who graduated from VHS in 2016. Sam died of sudden cardiac arrest on June 23, 2022, after he had gone for a run after a day of training at Marine Corps Base Quantico Station. It was just days shy of the graduation ceremony for his officers class at The Basic School. He was 24.

The community’s embrace and support of the Yates family following Sam’s death, said Sam’s mother, Jill Yates, spurred the creation of their foundation and its ambitious mission — preventing more loss of life from sudden cardiac arrest, through education and the placement of accessible AEDs on Vashon, especially in school and sports settings including school district fields, parks, and places where athletes of all ages play sports.

In October, the Yates Foundation funded and installed a public AED located at the VES Fields, with easy access for students, parents, and athletes using the fields or exiting the nearby Harbor School — the first of many it hopes to install in public places on Vashon.

Organizing the Nick of Time event on Dec. 6, and enlisting local participation and support for it, Jill Yates said, was another important effort for the foundation.

Suzanne Apodaca, director of operations for the Nick of Time Foundation, said that Vashon’s turnout for the event was impressive, given the size of the school district — praising the work of the Yates family in supporting the event and also saying that Vashon Island School District had been a valuable partner in the effort.

“It is amazing and heartwarming to see how the local community is working to keep the kids of Vashon Island heart-healthy,” she said.

EKG testing is currently not part of a well-child or pre-participation sports physical, Apodoca noted, explaining that most problems that cause sudden cardiac arrest in young people can’t be heard with current standard stethoscopes, and “doctors need to look under the hood to find the electrical and/or structural issues that put a student at risk.”

Following major events like the one on Vashon, the Nick of Time Foundation has worked with several school districts to help them create more regular EKG screening opportunities for student-athletes, she added — noting her hope that Vashon, too, will develop an ongoing program.

“We’ve planted a seed here to know how to take care of the kids,” Apodaca said.

Jill Yates confirmed that her family’s foundation would also like to see regular access to heart screenings increase on the island.

“We will be working to encourage that EKGs will be available to our Vashon youth,” she said.

Sudden Cardiac Arrest

According to the American Heart Association, people often confuse cases of sudden cardiac arrest with heart attacks.

“A heart attack is when blood flow to the heart is blocked,” the association’s website explains. “Sudden cardiac arrest is when the heart malfunctions and suddenly stops beating. A heart attack is a ‘circulation’ problem and sudden cardiac arrest is an ‘electrical’ problem.”

Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) can affect people of all ages, but is the leading cause of death in young athletes, according to the National Institute of Health.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has estimated that approximately 2,000 people under the age of 25 die from sudden cardiac arrest in the U.S. each year.

The Nick of Time Foundation puts it differently, calling SCA the leading cause of death in “exercising and ‘at play’ young people” — emphasizing that it can occur across broad groups of active young people whether or not they participate in organized sports.

For islanders, the loss and grief caused by the condition extend beyond statistics — in the last two years, SCA has caused the death of not only Sam Yates but also another much-loved islander, Andrew Walker.

Andrew, who was raised on Vashon and had been coached by John Yates in baseball and basketball, died on May 28 at the age of 23. He had just graduated from Boise State University when he collapsed near the finish line while running his first marathon.

At the event, prominently placed posters on display honored the lives of Sam and Andrew, alongside portraits and biographies of other young people whose lives were lost to SCA. But another group of placards offered hope, showing portraits of young people who had survived SCA because of the quick intervention of people who performed CPR or administered AED help.

At the Dec. 6 event, islander and long-distance runner Stacey Whitney, who helped with CPR training, showed off a new addition to her gear for marathons: a backpack containing an AED. She’s now carrying the equipment, she said, to honor the lives of Sam and Andrew.

A volunteer-powered event

The Nick of Time Foundation was founded in 2006 by Apodaca’s sister, Darla Varrenti, the mother of Nick Varrenti, a high school athlete who died suddenly at the age of 16, due to an undetected heart condition.

The foundation’s medical leadership team is a who’s who of distinguished doctors, including Jonathan Drezner, the director of the University of Washington’s Medicine Center for Sports Cardiology and the team physician of the Seattle Seahawks, UW Huskies and the OL Reign; Henry Pelto, a Virginia Mason Franciscan Health doctor who is the medical director and team physician of the Seattle Mariners and Seattle Kraken; and Kimberly Harmon, head football physician for the UW football program.

All three doctors worked at the Vashon event, analyzing participants’ heart screenings and explaining their results to each student.

Local doctors participating included Vashon Medical Reserve Corps doctors James Bristow, a physician-scientist who practiced as a pediatric cardiologist, and Dr. Ted Gibbons, the former chief of cardiology at Harborview. Numerous other local medical professionals, as well as close family friends and classmates of Sam, contributed their time and expertise to the event, said Jill Yates.

Another strong supporter of the Sam Yates Community Foundation’s efforts, Vashon Island Fire & Rescue, also showed up on Dec. 6 in force, with first responders conducting blood pressure and heart rate checks on students and then helping train them to use CPR and AEDs.

Expenses for the event covered by the Yates Foundation, said Jill Yates, have yet to be completely calculated but were expected to run between $8,000 and $9,000. These costs included covering nominal payments for the screening for some students, ferry fares and overnight lodgings for Nick of Time personnel, and providing a continental breakfast and full lunch for all volunteers at the event.

Expressing deep gratitude, she said local sponsors who provided funding to make the event possible included the Vashon Rotary, Granny’s Attic, and the Vashon Health Care District. Cottonwood Lodging, Vashon Pharmacy and The Lodges on Vashon also provided support for the day-long event.

Nick of Time partners for the Vashon and other events included the UW Center for Sports Cardiology, DP Foundation, Alexander’s Hope, Seattle Kraken, Starbucks, One Roof Foundation, Seattle Seahawks, Cardea Screen, FUJIFILM Sonosite, and Stryker.

For more information, visit the Sam Yates Community Foundation’s Facebook page and nickoftimefoundation.org.