Eric Paredes Save A Life Foundation
We Are Taking Prevention to Heart: Protecting Youth From Sudden Cardiac Arrest Through Awareness, Education and Action
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
The Eric Paredes Save A Life Foundation is an independent HHS organization committed to preventing Sudden Cardiac Arrest/Death (SCA/D) in youth through awareness, education and action. Sudden Cardiac Arrest is a leading cause of death under 25 and the #1 killer of student athletes. Sudden Cardiac Arrest is an abnormality in the heat's electrical system that can be detected with heart screenings. EKGs are NOT part of well-child exams or sports physicals although studies show 1 in 300 youth has an undetected heart condition. We provide free heart screenings ages 12-25 to identify cardiac abnormalities putting them at risk for SCA. Our vision is to eliminate the tragic consequences of SCA in youth. We are committed to a strategy that will pursue standardized prevention of Sudden Cardiac Arrest in youth in the pediatrician's office, on the field and in the classroom. Through legislative policy and education, screenings and AED placements, We are Taking Prevention to Heart.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Screen Your Teen
The Eric Paredes Save A Life Foundation provides free heart screenings for teens age 12 to 25 across San Diego County to identify heart abnormalities that put them at risk for sudden cardiac arrest—a leading cause of death under 25 and the #1 killer of student athletes. Screenings are quick, painless and noninvasive and include a health history, an EKG and if indicated, and echocardiogram. A typical heart screening could cost between $90 and $1,500, but accessibility to is central to our mission, especially since heart screenings are not part of annual well-child exams or pre-participation sports physicals. Screenings are run by a corps of volunteers, from cardiologists, nurses, techs, school administrators, coaches and trainers to parents that demonstrates for screening participants Bystander CPR (hands-only) and AED use—the only life-saving measures once sudden cardiac arrest strikes.
Save A Heart Save A Life AED Program
An automated external defibrillator (AED) is the only way to restart a heart in cardiac arrest. That’s why we place accessible AEDs anywhere youth congregate and educate bystanders follow the Cardiac Chain of Survival.
Prescription for Prevention
Studies show young hearts are an often overlooked area of assessment, with practitioners, parents and patients largely unfamiliar with warning signs and risk factors that put youth at risk for Sudden Cardiac Arrest. Our free, accredited online training module featuring an in-depth discussion of what primary care practitioners can do to incorporate evidence-based prevention protocol into their practices and equip youth to be their own heart health advocates.
Keep Their Heart in the Game
There is no universal law that mandates sudden cardiac arrest prevention like there is for other health and safety concerns, such as vaccinations, concussions or fire. We advocate for SCA prevention legislation and have sponsored several state laws for youth sports programs. We have introduced three laws now noticed by the California Department of Education and have augmented the California Health Education Framework to incorporate new policy and protocol for Sudden Cardiac Arrest Prevention in youth. Our foundation has free resources to help the community comply with the law including mandated SCA information sheets in nine languages and SCA prevention training for coaches and athletic trainers.
Where we work
Awards
2023 Live Well San Diego 22nd Public Health Champion 2023
Live Well San Diego
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Hours of no-cost treatment provided
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adolescents, Young adults
Related Program
Screen Your Teen
Type of Metric
Other - describing something else
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
The Eric Paredes Save A Life Foundation provides FREE heart screenings to youth ages 12 to 25 to identify cardiac abnormalities that youth at risk for Sudden Cardiac Arrest.
Number of public events held to further mission
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adolescents, Young adults
Related Program
Screen Your Teen
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
The Eric Paredes Save A Life Foundation provides free heart screenings to youth ages 12 to 25 to identify cardiac abnormalities that put 1 in 300 at risk for Sudden Cardiac Arrest.
Number of participants attending course/session/workshop
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Children and youth
Related Program
Keep Their Heart in the Game
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Keep Their Heart in the Game. Free digital Sudden Cardiac Arrest prevention training and bilingual resources for heart safety standards that combat the #1 killer of student athletes
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
The Eric Paredes Save A Life Foundation is committed to preventing Sudden Cardiac Arrest in youth through awareness, education and action. Saving lives is paramount to our mission and prevention is our goal through free screenings to identify cardiac abnormalities that may lead to Sudden Cardiac Arrest. Our vision is to eliminate the tragic consequences of sudden cardiac arrest in youth. The Eric Paredes Save A Life Foundation is committing to a strategy that will pursue standardized prevention of SCA in youth through legislative policy and a practice of education, screenings, AED placements and CERP training, we will impact San Diego and California with our leadership model. Our comprehensive cardiac screenings are quick, painless and non-invasive and include a health history, EKG and if indicated, an echocardiogram - creating a thorough and quality evaluation of young hearts.
SCA is not a heart attack. It's a genetic or congenital abnormality in the heart's structure or electrical system that abruptly stops the heartbeat. It's fatal in 92% of cases if not properly treated within minutes. Heart abnormalities identified include life-threatening conditions, such as Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM), Long QT Syndrome (LQTS), Wolf-Parkinson-White (WPW), or Arhhythmogenic Right Ventricular Displasia (ARVD).
There are thousands of youth deaths annually from sudden cardiac arrest, yet, heart screenings are not a part of regular well-child exams or sports physicals, even though 1 in 300 have an undetected heart condition that puts them at risk. An inventory of newborn and childhood exam standards enumerates the many conditions we do test for, though the odds are one in many 1000s the child will be at risk. There is a dangerously low awareness of the warning signs and risk factors associated with SCA. An American Board of Family medicine study noted that 72% of students who suffered from SCA were reported by their parents to have at least one symptom before the event. They just didn't recognize it as life threatening. A statement by the American Academy of pediatricians recognizes that the warning signs are often missed by both doctor and parents. and in fact, standard well-child exams lack cardio-focused prevention that miss 91% of youth at risk for SCA.
There is a need for community awareness and action programs that educates teens, parents, educators, coaches, the medical community and elected officials about what the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation calls a public health crisis, as well as an outlet to get kids screened. Founded in 2010, the Eric Paredes Save A Life Foundation is attempting to fill this gap by protecting families from the tragedy of losing a child to a syndrome that could be prevented.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
The Eric Paredes Save A Life Foundation is the only entity in San Diego County dedicated to taking action to prevent Sudden Cardiac Arrest and moreover, is one of the leading providers of free heart screenings in the United States. Without this service, asymptomatic teens we have found at risk may never have realized their condition until it was too late - just like Eric Paredes. Our initiative is to host six free events open to the public for youth ages 12-25. Historical data shows that we will find about 1-2% of youth at risk, so every screening is a life-saving event. At-risk youth are referred back to their family doctor. In addition to screening, we also conduct hands-on demonstrations of the Cardiac Chain of Survival: Recognize SCA, Call 911, Perform hands-only CPR, Use an AED, Work with EMS. In conjunction with our screening, we also run a dedicated outreach and education campaign through high-school related media portals to raise awareness of Sudden Cardiac Arrest, recognize the warning signs and urge screening with our foundation or a family doctor.
Through robust collaborations with youth-focused stakeholders, the footprint of our local SCA intervention programs will evolve into legacy models that drive comprehensive, systemic change in health literacy, primary and secondary prevention practices.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
The Eric Paredes Save A Life Foundation Screen Your Teen program bridges the gap in medical care and awareness by providing free cardiac screenings to youth ages 12-25 to find undetected heart abnormalities that put them at risk for Sudden Cardiac Arrest/Death. At every screening, we identify 1-2% of youth at risk for Sudden Cardiac Arrest/Death.
Our screening event locations rotate annually to give access to diverse, socio-economic communities. At least 50% of screening participants travel from around the county to each event. Research has shown that SCA is the leading cause of death on school campuses, which is why we partner with middle and high schools to champion the cause in their parent communities. Our surveys show that roughly 42% of participants are from moderate to extremely low income households, many without health insurance.
Our screenings also include CPR/AED demonstrations, AED placements in schools and youth center lacking proper prevention equipment. Through 2022, we have placed 192 AEDs, protecting close to 350,000 hearts.
Founded in 2010, the foundation was run run by the board. In 2013, the foundation secured a consultant to orchestrate a major rebranding and develop outreach and engagement. In late 2013, the consultant was named part-time executive director and income increased by 22% over 2012. Since then, efforts of the executive directors added grant money to the income stream and has increased giving in every other area.
In 2014, the foundation's vision of widespread awareness of SCA prevention became a reality by partnering with the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF), the governing body for high school sports in the U.S. state of California to introduce best practices in our high schools. In 2015, those practices were proposed as new legislation in California to protect young athletes.
In 2017, the Eric Paredes Sudden Cardiac Arrest Prevention Act was enacted, protecting K-12 students participating in school-sponsored athletic activities. New policy adds SCA training to coach certification, new protocol that empowers coaches to remove from play a student-athlete who exhibits fainting.
In 2020, Concussion and Sudden Cardiac Arrest Prevention Protocol
This law extends the AB 1639 protocol to community youth sports programs, with the addition that sports officials (referees, umpires, etc.) and administrators also take mandatory Sudden Cardiac Arrest prevention training.
Prescription for Prevention, a free, accredited medical training that helps primary care practitioners incorporate robust cardiac risk assessment into their practices.
Hundreds of thousands of students, parents, coaches, educators and medical professionals have taken our free SCA prevention training.prevention Curriculum.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Since 2010, our vision has been to eliminate the tragic consequences of sudden cardiac arrest in youth. Through our screening program, AED placement and legislative initiatives, we are spreading education, awareness and potentially life-saving intervention for 500+ youth and counting. Add to that the 170 AEDs placed in youth communities protecting over 300,000 hearts.
Free Heart Screenings.
Screenings include a cardiac risk assessment, EKG (electrocardiogram), echocardiogram if indicated and a consultation with a cardiologist. Screenings are supported by hundreds of volunteers annually, including cardiologists, registered nurses, student nurses and high school youth.
Cardiac Chain of Survival Training.
Eric Paredes Save A Life Foundation provides interactive demonstrations of hands-only CPR and how to use an automated external defibrillator (AED) - the only life-saving measure once SCA strikes.
Cardiac Emergency Preparedness.
Eric Paredes Save A Life Foundation places AEDs in California schools and advocates for the implementation of cardiac emergency response plans anywhere youth congregate. Every minute's delay decreases the chance of survival by 10%, which is why 92% of SCA victims die. Given SCA is the leading cause of death on school campuses, it's critical for school communities to be as well-practiced in executing the cardiac chain of survival as they are fire drills.
Advocacy.
The Eric Paredes Sudden Cardiac Arrest Prevention Act mandates new coach training, SCA awareness and athlete removal from play protocol in California's K-12 public, private and charter school-sponsored sports activities. Information about SCA prevention practices was included in the 2019 revision of the California Health Education Framework for California public schools, an educator's guide developed by the California Department of Education.
Education.
Prescription for Prevention. Studies show young hearts are an often overlooked area of assessment, with practitioners, parents and patients largely unfamiliar with warning signs and risk factors that put youth at risk for SCA. Our free, accredited on-demand training module demonstrates how primary care practitioners can incorporate evidence-based prevention protocol into their practices.
Two additional free training courses were developed in 2020: Keep Their Heart in the Game for Athletic Trainers to ensure that they are prepared to combat the #1 killer of student athletes, Sudden Cardiac Arrest and Smart Hearts for the next generation of life-savers to recognize and respond to SCA.
The vision of the Eric Paredes Save A Life Foundation is that sudden cardiac arrest will be exposed as a grave and overlooked health risk affecting young people, which will lead to mandatory cardiac screenings and the required placement of AEDs and cardiac emergency response planning and training in schools and youth-centered programs.
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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Eric Paredes Save A Life Foundation
Board of directorsas of 03/14/2024
Ms. Laurie Mulligan
Verizon
Term: 2024 - 2022
Hector Paredes
Retired Commander, CHP Border Communications Center
Rhina Paredes
RN, Scripps Health
John Rogers
Cardiologist, Scripps Health & Foundation Medical Director
Marcy Vukotich
Hershey's
Diana Li
Eric Paredes Save A Life Foundation
Allison Healy-Poe
Steve Lykins
Retired Executive Director for MADD & Retired CHP
Laurie Mulligan
Amazon
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Equity strategies
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