Heart foundation gives 50,000th free screening at Glenbard South

The milestone passed with little fanfare. But school officials, parents and area doctors volunteering at Glenbard South High School on Thursday say its significance should not be overlooked.

In the early afternoon, volunteers administered the 50,000th heart screening at the Glen Ellyn school in a 4-year-old program that offers the free screenings to high school students throughout the region.

One of the program's creators, Dr. Joseph Marek, said working with the age group means dealing with a delicate balance of making sure the students are aware but not worried.

“The kids should be enjoying their social life, said Marek, a cardiologist who helped start Young Hearts for Life. “But you do have to tell them to look both ways when you cross the street. This should be along those same lines.

The program is partially sponsored by the Midwest Heart Foundation as well as Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove. It has reached as far south as Burbank, north to Niles and Barrington and as far west as St. Charles. The program has also been in schools in Chicago. Thursday's screenings were done during students' gym classes.

Parent volunteers were brought in for a 90-minute training program Wednesday night and learned how to administer the screenings. Once completed, doctors examined the results and will follow up with any they deem “suspicious. In the program's four years, Marek said about 2 to 3 percent have needed a follow-up.

On Tuesday, a 15-year-old Mount Carmel High School student collapsed and died while playing basketball with friends on Chicago's South Side. Marek said those kinds of stories sparked the program's creation.

“Not even as a doctor but, as a human being, those things touch you, he said. “Who is going to stop those problems? Carpenters are not going to. It's doctors, so we wanted to do this.

Junior Zach Bava, 17, said those reports worried him because he plays football and baseball for the school. He said the screenings help put him at ease, as well as the heart monitors students use once a week in gym class.

“It's interesting and it's painless, he said of the screenings. “It's good to have and it's good to know that you have a good heart.

Mari Jourdan, one of many parent volunteers and the school's career resources director, said the program has been well-received.

“It's an incredible thing for this community to get this, she said. “It's something you don't often think of because you just don't think a high school student would need this. But they do because you never know.