Paramedic inspired by patient to find out more about deadly conditions.
A paramedic is planning to raise awareness about deadly but undetected heart conditions in young people.
Gareth Mallon became interested in sudden adult death syndrome after treating a patient with a heart condition which had gone unnoticed until he was given a scan.
The patient had myocarditis – inflammation of the heart – which develops when people have common viral illnesses and can cause serious damage.
While it was not fatal for that patient, it can be the cause of sudden adult death syndrome, which is more usually the result of heart problems passed down by parents.
Soon after treating the patient, Mr Mallon joined Cardiac Risk in the Young, which campaigns for better screening.
Now the 44-year-old, of Eden Street, Alvaston, is hoping to share his knowledge with youngsters, as well as his colleagues and other health professionals.
He said: "I want to educate people about what signs and symptoms to look for.
"These include shortness of breath which is disproportionate to what a person is doing.
"Other symptoms are chest pains and black-outs.
"I also want people to think about their family history."
Schools, leisure centres and sports clubs will get information about paying for a mobile screening truck to visit.
Mr Mallon is also planning to hold an education day for staff at East Midlands Ambulance Service, which he hopes could lead to the introduction of compulsory training sessions.
This is likely to be held in the summer, once an educational DVD has been produced by Cardiac Risk in the Young.
Mr Mallon said: "When crews go to a sudden collapse they need to check whether it's a simple case of fainting or whether there's an undiagnosed heart problem.
"And staff need to find out whether patients are getting chest pains because they are unfit or because there is a problem which shouldn't be there."
Nr Mallon also hopes to raise awareness among GPs and hospital staff to make sure that patients get the right treatment.
He said: "Burton's Queen's Hospital is hopefully going to work with us to make sure that patients get referred to heart specialists if we carry out diagnostic work which suggests that they need to be.
"And when we have a non-critical case that doesn't need immediate treatment we want to make sure that their GP_ refers them to a specialist."
