Dingwall Academy shares details of booking time for Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) screenings
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PUPILS at Ross-shire's largest secondary school are being invited to take part in a heart screening event specifically aimed at young people.
Dingwall Academy today announced that it has been selected to host a screening event for the charity Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY).
CRY’s vision is to prevent young sudden cardiac deaths through awareness, screening and research and supporting affected families.
The screening event will be held over the weekend of June 17/18 and the booking page will open tomorrow (Tuesday, April 25) at 4pm.
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The school posted: "The sessions are expected to fill up very quickly so anyone interested is encouraged to sign up using the following link https://www.testmyheart.org.uk/book-appointment/
"These screenings are particularly important (although not exclusively) for 14-35 year olds who are involved in strenuous sports activities.
"The event is fully funded by Tesco Bags of Help so there is no cost to be screened."
It added: "Please spread the word amongst our young athletes."
What does the screening involve?
There is a simple way to diagnose most cardiac abnormalities.
This is by having an ECG (electrocardiogram) test.
Results should be read by a cardiologist. For extra clarity an Echocardiogram (ultrasound scan) may also be done at the request of CRY’s consultant cardiologist.
If there has been a young (under 35) sudden death in the family, the family is entitled to be screened on the NHS and should speak to their GP about arranging these tests.
If you are an elite athlete (represent your country in sport) we also recommend that you should consider screening.
An Electrocardiogram (ECG), which looks at the electrical conduction pathways around the heart.
Small stickers known as electrodes are placed on the client’s chest and the wires connect to an ECG machine whilst you lie still.
A printout of the heart’s electrical activity is obtained for evaluation by the cardiologist.
This test is painless, non-invasive and takes only a few minutes to perform.
An Echocardiogram (Echo) is an ultrasound test (such as offered to pregnant women) which looks at the structure of the heart. CRY consultant cardiologists may request this test but most attending a CRY cardiac screening event will not require one. These tests are only carried out at the request of the CRY consultant cardiologists and can not be pre-booked.
From the information provided on screen, measurements are taken which give a guide to muscle thickness and size of the chambers of the heart.
Again, this test is non-invasive and painless; and it takes approximately 20 minutes to perform.
The tests are performed with the client lying down on a couch or bed. For both tests clients will need to be undressed to the waist.
