Sudden cardiac arrest: Silicon Valley district screens high school athletes for silent killer

IT’S A SILENT killer that could happen to any high school student: sudden cardiac arrest. One school district wants to make sure it prevents another tragedy.

The Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District is the second public school district in the state to require heart screenings for all student athletes, 16 years after Los Gatos High School student and football player Michael Halpin collapsed and died from sudden cardiac arrest in 2008. The nonprofit Kyle J. Taylor Foundation has expanded the program into the district after its initial launch in the Campbell Union High School District two years ago. The nonprofit is now working to implement the screenings statewide.