SWARTZ CREEK, Michigan – Hurley Medical Center is offering free teen heart screenings Saturday at Swartz Creek High School.

The Teen Health Check would be for Genesee County high school students ages 13 to 19 and would offer an in-depth heart screening that includes a medical history, blood pressure check and ECG.

The screenings take place from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the Swartz Creek High School gymnasium, 1 Dragon Dr.

Echocardiograms will also be provided, if needed. The screening looks for evidence of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a serious condition that can cause sudden cardiac death in young athletes as well as in students engaging in physical activity or exercise.

Dr. Jim Weber, emergency physician and chief research officer at Hurley Medical Center said the teen heart screening can be very important to catching cardiac issues that might not be found otherwise.

“We’re very passionate about this,” Weber said. “When you have a kid that dies of cardiac arrest, it’s completely unexpected and without warning … there’s no way emotional to prepare for that.”

The screening could also help the students know if they have other non-life threatening heart issues or high blood pressure, he said. A screening like this is not usually done until families think there is a problem and could cost about $2,000.

The screening is taking place at Swartz Creek High School because the Swartz Creek community knows firsthand how sudden a student’s heart can give out.

A 15-year-old student’s heart stopped in October while playing basketball in the school’s gym and was saved when coaches used an automatic external defibrillator to restore his heartbeat.

“There’s a lot of kids that don’t get this screening test,” Weber said. “It’s very quick, it’s about 30 minutes. It’s not evasive and it gives us a lot of information that could be life saving.”

To register call 810-262-9260, then press option 1.

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Hurley Medical Center to hold free teen heart screenings at Swartz Creek High School