Clinicians to conduct 100th heart screening of area teens

In partnership with the Nick of Time Foundation, UW Medicine clinicians will conduct free heart screenings for students at Seattle’s Ballard High School on Wednesday, Jan. 8. It is the 100th such event sponsored by the Mill Creek-based foundation, which was formed in 2006 to raise awareness of sudden cardiac arrest and heart disease in young adults.  

Media are welcome at the event.  

• When:  8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025 
• Where: Ballard High School gymnasium, 1418 NW 65th St., Seattle, WA 98117. Parking lot entrance is from NW 67th. Google map
• YouTube livestream to start at 9:30 a.m.: https://youtube.com/live/iHyxATv1D_g?feature=share 

“Volunteering at a heart-screening event is always my favorite day of the month. It brings together the high school community, medical professionals, emergency-medical services personnel and dedicated volunteers to provide advanced heart screens to young people,” said Dr. Jonathan Drezner, professor of family medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine. He is also medical director for Nick of Time. 

The foundation is a community nonprofit that facilitates electrocardiogram (EKG) screenings and defibrillator training at Puget Sound-area high schools. At these events, clinicians have conducted advanced heart screenings for 30,178 people ages 12 to 24. They found 615 individuals with abnormalities that have warranted medical follow-up. 

Nick of Time was founded by Darla Varrenti in memory of her son Nicholas, a prep football player who died at age 16 from sudden cardiac arrest. The underlying cause was hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a structural heart disease and the leading cause of sudden cardiac death in young athletes. Nick’s condition had not been detected by the sports-physical evaluation commonly used with middle- and high-school athletes. 

At Ballard High School, more than 600 students are expected to take part. They will undergo an EKG screen to detect asymptomatic heart conditions and receive instructions in CPR and in how to use an automated external defibrillator (AED).  

“Many people don’t recognize cardiac arrest when a kid collapses,” said Darla Varrenti, the foundation’s executive director. “They stand by and watch, when what they should be doing is starting CPR, having someone call 911 and finding an AED.”   

The foundation’s free events are made possible by dedicated volunteers and the collaboration of numerous community organizations and medical professionals, Varrenti added. Other partners of the foundation include the DP Foundation, Alexander’s Hope Foundation, One Roof Foundation, Seattle Kraken, Cardiac Insight, Sonosite, Stryker, the Washington State Council of Firefighters, and the Seattle Fire Department. 

“I’m so grateful to the Nick of Time for partnering with UW Medicine for over 15 years," Drezner added. "Our experience has elevated our knowledge in sports cardiology and our ability to care for athletes and active people of all ages.”

For details about UW Medicine, please visit http://uwmedicine.org/about.