WHAT: More than 1,000 students will participate in what is believed to be the largest free medical screening for high school athletes in the nation. Called Heart of a Champion Day, it will include checks for heart conditions that can cause sudden death. Other screenings will check a student's musculo-skeletal system and general health. B-roll of last year's screening that drew more than 1,200 student-athletes can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/carolinashealthcare#p/u/0/RNOXaEaDA14.
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WHERE: The campus of Carolinas Medical Center (the Carolinas College of Health Sciences), 1200 Blythe Blvd., Charlotte, NC.
Carolinas Medical Center (CMC), the largest hospital in the 32-hospital Carolinas HealthCare System, is an 874-bed facility in Charlotte that includes a Level I Trauma Center, a research institute and numerous specialty units (heart, cancer, organ transplant and behavioral health). CMC also serves as one of North Carolina's five Academic Medical Center Teaching Hospitals.
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WHEN: Saturday, June 5, 2010, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., EDT.
WHO: Student-athletes attending Charlotte-Mecklenburg Public Schools will be screened. More than 400 physicians, nurses and support staff from Carolinas Medical Center, Levine Children's Hospital, Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute and OrthoCarolina are volunteering to administer the screenings.
NOTE: Students will be given an electrocardiogram and echocardiogram to check for hereditary heart conditions, principally hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, that can cause sudden death during athletic competition. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a thickening of the heart muscle that causes electrical disruptions and reduced blood flow. In 2009, 65 students were referred to physicians for further evaluation before being cleared to participate in sports. Conditions found included heart irregularities, high blood pressure, post-concussion syndrome, uncontrolled asthma, vision problems and over-use syndrome.
Media wishing to cover Heart of a Champion Day should contact Kevin McCarthy, Public Relations, 704-355-3141 or 704-400-3969 (cell).
/PRNewswire-USNewswire -- May 27/
SOURCE Carolinas HealthCare System
