VIDEO: Preventing Sudden Death in Sports

The Farmingdale Breakfast Rotary is calling the community to action on the issue of sudden death in sports.

The group invited Marc Horowitz, president of FirstScan Health Medical, to speak on MCG technology, an internet-based Multifunction CardioGram system designed to assist physicians in diagnosing heart conditions, at their meeting on Tuesday.

Last week, 17-year-old Hope Reindl collapsed and stopped breathing at an intramural basketball game at Comsewogue High School, which Rotary Community Service Director Tina Diamond said indicates just how timely this issue is.

Horowitz described the technology and the "multi-prong approach" his team would use if the MCG was brought into the Farmingdale School District. Currently, Farmingdale student athletes are only required to submit physical forms before the season.

Currently no districts on Long Island use this exact approach. Rotary members estimated the total cost to use this screening system on all the athletes would be more than $100,000, and they discussed researching grants that could be used to possibly fund the screenings.

Sudden death in sports hits close to home in Farmingdale. on the basketball court during a game of pickup in October 2009 and died from a heart condition.

His mother Melinda Murray attended Tuesday's "call to action" to show her support for schools enacting cardiac screenings.

Diamond and the Rotary plan on forming a committee to research the subject further.

"It's a community effort," Diamond said. "We can't do this alone."