Wes' death prompts school heart talk

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - The sudden death last month of Fennville High School basketball player Wes Leonard brought doctors and educators together Monday night to talk about sudden cardiac arrest.

They came from 21 schools, a church and a day camp to hear about the causes -- and what to do about it. Coley Johnson works as an athletic director about 120 miles from Grand Rapids, at a school system in Jackson County.

He said the Leonard story caught the attention of many in the athletic community and many outside of it.

"When that occurred back in March, everybody, I think, went home that night and hugged their child -- because what a tragedy," Johnson said.

The teacher and athletic director said he lost his brother to a sudden cardiac arrest 30 years ago. And as much time as he spends around athletes, Johnson said he wants to do what he can to try and prevent it from happening to his students.

Doctors at the Spectrum Health symposium stressed the importance of basic life supporting training, school automated external defibrillator (AED) programs -- and the critical element of time. A matter of minutes can send the chance of survival from more than 90% to less than 10%.

And Helen DeVos Children's Hospital cardiology chief Dr. Ronald Grifka weighed in on the debate over how to screen students for possible heart problems.

"We're unable to really predict and tell a family or a parent or a coach whether this child or adult has a chance of sudden cardiac arrest," he said.

Grifka gave a litany of reasons why wide-scale heart screenings would not be practical. Perhaps most critically, he said current tests regularly show problems when when there are none. And they regularly show no problems when they do exist, the doctor said.

The best solution, Grifka said, is better annual physicals. Assembly line athletic physicals -- where athletes are seen one after the other in the gym -- are not enough, he said.

"We really need to do better than that," the cardiology chief said. Doctors should be giving athletes a full examination, including eyes, ears, spine and kidneys in addition to the heart. "And then we'll really improve health care for these kids."

About a dozen of the people at the talk came from one district: Fennville. School board president Tony Lungaro said they came to support the Leonard family, support the Fennville community -- and to help show other schools just how important the issues are.

"If we can play a small part in pushing that message and helping that awareness ... then we're contributing in our small way," Lungaro said.

Grifka and other doctors did not discuss the specifics of the Leonard case, but the doctor said the incident has prompted many questions. Spectrum is set to host a seminar on treatment options for heart rhythm disorders at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Butterworth Hospital. Pre-registration is required by calling 877.495.2626. The health system will be hosting an online heart rhythm chat at noon May 12.