Norton Children’s cardiologist discusses child cardiac arrest awareness

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – With February being American Heart Month, Norton Children’s Hospital has advice on monitoring the heart health of children.

The hospital says of the 350,000 cardiac arrest events that happen every year, more than 7,000 of those involve children.

They added on average, one in every 70 schools will have a cardiac arrest event, but due to Kentucky law, schools do have required emergency response plans in place. 

“A lot of kids who are otherwise healthy can have some risk factors or red flags that they may have certain symptoms of things that can raise their likelihood of having a sudden cardiac arrest,” said Norton Children’s cardiologist Dr. Adam Skaff.  

Skaff also gave advice on what symptoms to look for to know if a child is showing signs of higher chance to have a sudden cardiac arrest. 

“Some of those things can include chest pain or dizziness with activity, feeling like their hearts racing or skipping a beat with activity, sometimes passing out with activity also shortness of breath is a common sign of underlying cardiac issues,” he said.

Health experts say if your child is involved in athletics, and you know they are at risk, it is important to talk to your doctor about what symptoms to be aware of and precautions to take.