Bookings to open next week for heart screening event

BOOKINGS for a heart screening event in Lerwick for young people will go live next week.

The event, for 14 to 35 year olds, will take place at the Clickimin Bowls Hall on 11 and 12 June.

It has been made possible thanks to a fundraising drive in the community, as well support from some local sponsors.

It is being organised by Shetland Heart Screening, a group formed a few years ago by Siobhan Pirie from Gulberwick. Her husband John Pirie unexpectedly passed away in 2017 at the age of just 29 after suffering a cardiac arrest.

Bookings will go live online on Tuesday (26 April), and only 200 spaces will be available – “so if you want a space, you need to act fast”, organisers said.

However, the hope is that the June screenings will be the “first of many” in Shetland.

More details on the exact time when people will be able to book will be released on Monday.

The screenings will be run by the charity Cardiac Risk in the Young, with cardiologists and nurses travelling from England.

Similar events are being held in Orkney in May.

During the screening a non-invasive ECG (electrocardiogram) test will take place, which may pick up some conditions. However, it will not detect things like anomalous coronary arteries and premature coronary artery disease.

An echocardiogram ultrasound scan will also be carried out. This measures cardiac dimensions and the flow of blood in and out of the heart.