BUNNELL, Fla. — Flagler County School Board members voted Wednesday to make ECGs mandatory for high school student-athletes.
An electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG) is a quick screening of the heart that can identify irregularities and heart conditions. According to Johns Hopkins, ECGs are “one of the simplest and fastest tests used to evaluate the heart.” Per AdventHealth, ECGs can identify student-athletes at risk of sudden cardiac death.
Flagler Schools previously offered a free, optional ECG screening during annual physicals for high school athletes.
On Wednesday night, the school board decided between three ECG policy options:
- Keep the current policy
- Mandate a single ECG screening during a student-athlete’s four-year high school career
- Mandate an ECG screening but allow for opt-outs
The second option passed 3-2, so students will not be allowed to opt-out.
For School Board Member Colleen Conklin, the choice was clear.
“The idea that we would even question a policy that could possibly save the life of a student — this isn't vaccines,” she said. “These aren't masks. This is noninvasive. It is potentially saving a child's life.”
She said she’s heard from two Flagler County parents who found out their children had heart conditions after they were identified during ECGs. She said the screenings are a simple measure to save a child’s life.
“It takes a couple of minutes and it literally could save a child's life,” she said.
Conklin said she doesn’t see the downside of making ECGs mandatory.
School Board Vice Chair Christy Chong said while she acknowledges the benefits of ECGs, she opposed a mandate.
“I do think it's a good idea, but I just don't like the idea of mandating anything,” Chong said. “It could just lead to other things, and I don't think it's the school's responsibility to mandate health practices.”
Chong is a board-certified family medicine practitioner. She said in health care, the decision to complete an ECG is up to the patients, and that at schools, it should be up to parents.
“I complete school physicals and family practice and there's been plenty of times I've said, ‘Hey, I'd like to do an EKG,’ and they're usually totally fine with that,” she said. “But that's their decision to be able to say that they want that.”
Conklin said she doesn’t think the mandate invades parents’ rights.
“I don't see it as an invasion of parental rights at all,” she said. “I think it's trying to be a good cooperative partner with parents.”
Both school board members raised financial concerns. For Chong, it’s about the cost for parents if an ECG screening signals an abnormality.
“Let's say a child has a false positive and we send them down a road for a bunch of testing with cardiology,” Chong said. “Who is responsible financially for that bill if that’s something that happens?”
Conklin said that without mandatory ECG screenings, there could be a financial liability element for the school.
“There is a liability element there,” Conklin said. “As a school board member, we're responsible, not just for the emotional and the health and the well-being of our students, but really, truly, it's also a liability issue for the financial health of our district.”
Several other Central Florida school districts have ECG policies in place. Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Volusia counties mandate ECG screenings for high school student-athletes. Brevard County Schools also mandates the screenings but allows for an opt-out.
Reagan Ryan is a 2023 — 2024 Report for America Corps Member, covering the environment and climate across Central Florida for Spectrum News 13. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues.