Screen Your Kid's Heart For Free At Upcoming San Mateo Co. Event

SAN MATEO, CA — Have you screened your child's heart recently? If not, good news: an event coming to San Mateo next month will offer free heart health screenings for youth between the ages of 12 and 25, regardless of where they live or go to school.

The event, by the San Francisco-based Via Heart Project, is free thanks to a grant from the Peninsula Healthcare District. It will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 23rd at the College of San Mateo, 1700 W. Hillsdale Blvd. in San Mateo.

Screenings are recommended for any child who was last screened more than two years ago and was under 14 during that screening.

"Young hearts are growing and changing," Via Heart Project said in a news release.

"Thanks to our fabulous medical volunteers, we are also now able to give echocardiograms to a larger percentage of participants."

Sudden cardiac arrest kills thousands of children each year, many of whom never show symptoms, according to Via Heart Project. Heart screenings, which are pain-free and non-invasive, tests for defects that annual exams don't cover.

To register for the San Mateo event, visit viaheartproject.org/screenings. Registration closes Feb. 21.