05/20/2026
We are performing in home EKGS! Call or text 850-303-6797 to schedule yours!
NEW FOR SPORTS: A new state law is adding a requirement for student-athletes in Florida, and for families across Okaloosa County, the clock is ticking to get it done before the upcoming school year.
Under the Second Chance Act (SB 1070), all incoming ninth-grade student-athletes and students in grades 10 through 12 who have never participated in an FHSAA-sanctioned sport will be required to obtain an electrocardiogram (commonly known as an ECG or EKG) prior to athletic participation beginning with the 2026-27 school year.
Dr. Lynn Keefe, a pediatrician in Niceville and a member of the FHSAA Sports Medicine Advisory Committee that helped develop the guidelines, said the new screening addresses a gap that traditional sports physicals alone cannot fill.
“The standard sports physical might get about 1% of catching the heart issues, but doing the ECG can detect up to 95% of the conditions that can cause sudden cardiac arrest,” Keefe said.
An ECG records the electrical activity of the heart over a brief period and can identify abnormal signals between the upper and lower chambers (the atria and ventricles) that may be linked to sudden cardiac arrest during physical activity.
“It’s a 10-second screening,” Keefe said. “Kids shouldn’t be nervous.”
Keefe described the process as quick and non-invasive. In her office, a strip with electrodes is placed on the patient’s chest, with one sticker on each shoulder and one near the left hip bone. The patient lies down, the recording is taken, and results are sent off — typically returned within 24 to 36 hours.
Full story: https://getthecoast.com/niceville-pediatrician-explains-new-ecg-requirement-for-incoming-high-school-athletes/
