You can see Northwest Newsradio’s Ryan Harris’ complete interview with UW Medicine’s Doctor Kim Harmon in the video below:
The sudden cardiac arrest experienced by Bronny James, eldest son of basketball star, LeBron James, is a reminder that heart issues can affect anyone. Bronny James’ incident was at a practice with his USC squad, where he’s an incoming freshman, ahead of an overseas trip for some exhibition games in Greece and Croatia.
Sudden cardiac arrest is especially shocking when it happens to someone in their physical prime, because we expect it when someone’s older but not when they’re young and in good shape. However, UW Medicine’s Doctor Kim Harmon, a sports medicine specialist, says underlying conditions and family history frequently play a role.
What Doctor Harmon and other experts don’t yet understand is why sudden cardiac arrest happens a little more often among basketball players, black and male athletes. “There is some research showing that the social determinants of health can affect outcomes in terms of resuscitation,” Doctor Harmon says, “so, if you come from a more disadvantaged background, you may be more likely to not get resuscitated, and so, more likely to die.”
Doctor Harmon says it helps that we find more automatic external defibrillators, or AEDs, in more places, which she says is especially good for athletes at facilities with AEDs and trainers. Harmon says, “If you’re an athlete, and you have a sudden cardiac arrest at a facility with an athletic trainer and an AED, studies have shown that 89% of people will survive.” Harmon says anyone can use an AED, and they’re programmed not to shock someone who doesn’t need it, so she says if someone is unconscious, assume they’re in cardiac arrest and slap the AED on them.
In the meantime, Harmon says UW and other colleges and universities include electrocardiograms as part of their pre-season athlete exams. She says that’s less common in high school athletes, but she says it’s only about $25 dollars to run an ECG, but she says they can find anywhere from 2/3 to 3/4 of issues that could cause sudden cardiac arrest, so an athlete would at least know there’s a risk.
