Florida high school student-athletes will be required to undergo electrocardiogram testing beginning July 1 under the Second Chance Act, a new state law.

An electrocardiogram, commonly referred to as an ECG or EKG, is a non-invasive test that records the heart’s electrical activity. The requirement aims to prevent cardiac arrest among young athletes by detecting underlying heart conditions.

Evan Ernst, co-founder of the nonprofit Who We Play For, said the procedure can detect 95% of conditions that can cause cardiac arrest. Ernst noted that approximately 23,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur annually in America among young people, and many involve underlying heart conditions. The test screens for conditions that affect approximately one in 300 children.

The legislation, passed by the Florida Legislature in 2025, will take effect for the 2026 school year. Ernst, who lost a childhood friend to cardiac arrest on a soccer field, called the measure “one of the biggest accomplishments in children’s health care in this country in decades.”

More than 70 students between ages 10 and 25 received ECG screenings at an event held Saturday at Galen College of Nursing in St. Petersburg. Sixteen-year-old Tampa student Hadley Stenberg, who participated in the screening, described the test as quick and painless, taking approximately two minutes to complete.

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