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Heart tests for Scottish athletes Heart tests for Scottish athletes
(about 10 hours later)
Scotland's first cardiac screening programme for young athletes will be opened at Hampden Park on Wednesday. Scotland's first cardiac screening programme for young athletes has been opened at Hampden Park in Glasgow.
The £100,000-a-year project will see thousands of sportsmen and women, aged 16 and over, tested for susceptibility to sudden cardiac death. The £200,000 pilot project will use ECG and ultrasound screening to test for susceptibility to Sudden Cardiac Death.
Calls for a screening programme were made following the death from heart failure of Motherwell captain, Phil O'Donnell, 35, in December. Screening will be offered to athletes over the age of 16 who take part in any organised amateur sports.
Athletes will be tested at the Sports Medicine Centre at Hampden. Calls for such a programme were made following the death from heart failure of Motherwell FC captain Phil O'Donnell, 35, in December.
The project was announced by Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon during the SNP's conference in April. The screening service, at Hampden's Sports Medicine Centre, will be offered to the Scottish Institute for Sport, regional institutes of sport and sport governing bodies .
It is a collaboration between the Scottish Government and the Scottish Football Association (SFA). The launch today of this pilot means that young Scots will soon be able to take part in sport with a greater degree of safety than in the past and help avoid the tragedy of further preventable deaths Nicola SturgeonHealth Secretary Anyone found to be at greater risk of Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD) will be referred to a specialist for further investigation or treatment.
The programme is a collaboration between the Scottish Government and the Scottish Football Association (SFA).
Scottish Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said: "Although SCD is very rare, it robs us of seemingly healthy young people with their whole lives ahead of them. The loss of each of these lives is a tragedy.
"Many professional athletes can be screened by their sporting bodies, indeed, professional footballers in the SPL already have checks every year.
"But until now there has been no opportunity for young Scots who participate in organised amateur sports to have access to appropriate testing.
"The launch today of this pilot means that young Scots will soon be able to take part in sport with a greater degree of safety than in the past and help avoid the tragedy of further preventable deaths."