The NDAA includes a Pilot Program for ECG Screening of Recruits in 2024!
The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 was signed by President Biden on December 22, 2023. It includes Section 547, "Pilot Program on Cardiac Screenings for Military Accessions." This pilot program is now the law of the land! We've been advocating for ECG screening for military recruits for years and years. Your efforts and support have made a life-saving difference for future military recruits!
Section 547 mandates that the Department of Defense start a pilot program of ECG screening for military recruits by September 30, 2024, and that it should run for three years with a report back to Congress by March 2028. Two training sites that have expressed interest represent more than 50,000 recruits annually. This is HUGE!
Read all about it in Patricia Kime's story in Military.com, US Military to Screen All New Recruits for Heart Conditions Under Must-Pass Annual Defense Bill, published December 14, 2023. The article says "All" recruits, but we know it will be only for those sites that are selected for the pilot program. Expanding ECG screening to all accession points will be our next project!
Section 547 mandates that the Department of Defense start a pilot program of ECG screening for military recruits by September 30, 2024, and that it should run for three years with a report back to Congress by March 2028. Two training sites that have expressed interest represent more than 50,000 recruits annually. This is HUGE!
Read all about it in Patricia Kime's story in Military.com, US Military to Screen All New Recruits for Heart Conditions Under Must-Pass Annual Defense Bill, published December 14, 2023. The article says "All" recruits, but we know it will be only for those sites that are selected for the pilot program. Expanding ECG screening to all accession points will be our next project!
Letter to SASC and HASC
We sent a letter of support for Sec. 528 of the House-passed NDAA to the leadership of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) and the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) in September 2023. The two committees are working on the final wording of the NDAA, resolving differences before it goes to President Biden for his signature toward the end of the year. Section 528 would establish a pilot program to provide electrocardiograms to individuals entering military service. This was opposed by the White House, however, in their Statement of Administration Policy (see page 6). Thank you to all who called and wrote expressing dismay. Our letter was endorsed by the Lion Heart Heroes Foundation, other Gold Star family members, survivors, and organizations dedicated to addressing Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA). See below.
Years of Advocacy Beginning to Pay Off!
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The approved House version of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 (NDAA FY24) includes a small section from the House Subcommittee on Military Personnel, Section 528: PILOT PROGRAM ON CARDIAC SCREENINGS FOR MILITARY ACCESSIONS!
The description reads, "This section would require the Secretary of Defense to establish a pilot program to provide mandatory electrocardiograms to individuals entering military service in connection with the military accession screening process." Please see the attached document for the rest of the bill language.
The NDAA was approved by the full House on June 21, but still must be reconciled with the Senate's version before being signed into law by President Biden toward the end of the year. We have been working for many years to get the military to add ECGs to the medical screening protocols at MEPS. ECGs can find over 85% of the conditions that can lead to Sudden Cardiac Death but were dropped from the medical protocols in 2002. This is a huge victory. Detailing the steps it took to get here would fill a book.
The description reads, "This section would require the Secretary of Defense to establish a pilot program to provide mandatory electrocardiograms to individuals entering military service in connection with the military accession screening process." Please see the attached document for the rest of the bill language.
The NDAA was approved by the full House on June 21, but still must be reconciled with the Senate's version before being signed into law by President Biden toward the end of the year. We have been working for many years to get the military to add ECGs to the medical screening protocols at MEPS. ECGs can find over 85% of the conditions that can lead to Sudden Cardiac Death but were dropped from the medical protocols in 2002. This is a huge victory. Detailing the steps it took to get here would fill a book.
Productive Trip to Washington DC, June 2023
The 3rd Annual National CPR and AED Awareness Rally gave us a good reason to head to Washington DC, where we participated in the rally at the Washington Monument and the march to the Capitol. We met with Senate and Congressional staffers to promote our mission of bringing cardiac screening with electrocardiograms (ECGs) to military recruits. We also met our lobbyist, Madison Arcangeli from Forza DC and had dinner with Dr. Mark Haigney and Dr. Alaric Franzos, the cardiologists we work with from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. It was a productive trip!
Meet the Press NOW features David's Story!
Here is a link to the video: Buffalo Bills Player Damar Hamlin's Cardiac Incident Broadens Calls for Military Cardiac Testing
Lion Heart Heroes Director, Laurie Finlayson, and Uniformed Services University Cardiologist, Dr. Mark Haigney, were interviewed by NBC's Pentagon Correspondent, Courtney Kube. After watching the segment linked above, click here to hear additional commentary by Courtney Kube and NBC Political Analyst Chuck Todd as they discuss the need for cardiac screening in the military, This aired on www.NBCNews.com/Now on February 10, 2023. |
Cardiac Screening of JROTC Cadets
Lion Heart Heroes Foundation has an ongoing partnership with the Nick of Time Foundation to screen JROTC cadets in Puget Sound area high schools. Screenings consist of a Heart Health Survey asking about possible signs & symptoms or family history of a heart condition. An EKG is performed that analyzes the electrical signals of the heart and in some cases, a limited physical exam or Echocardiogram of the heart is conducted. The results are reviewed on-site by cardiologists and sports physicians experienced in EKG youth heart screens.