One in four Pennsylvania high school students report vaping in the past month. The American Heart Association, the world’s leading nonprofit organization focused on heart and brain health for all, invites parents, educators, health care professionals and community health advocates to participate in a virtual community conversation, Youth and Vaping: Addressing an Epidemic. The event is sponsored by WellSpan Health and will be held on Zoom on Tuesday, April 27 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Registration is free at bit.ly/PaVapingConversation.
The event will feature six local experts who will address the rise in e-cigarette use among young people in Central Pennsylvania, the health effects of vaping, how to recognize vaping devices and products, what local schools are doing to combat e-cigarette use students and advice for parents.
Speakers will include Dr. Scott Silverstein, pulmonologist at WellSpan Ephrata Community Hospital; Samantha Smith, community health specialist with the City of York Bureau of Health; Holly Dolan, vice president of community education at Lebanon Family Health Services; Brandy Shealer, school social worker for Red Lion Area Senior High School; and Isaiah Morales, high school senior and student council president at Red Lion Area Senior High School. The conversation will be moderated by Nicole Maurer-Gray, executive director of the Community Health Council of Lebanon County.
Every day in the United States, over 3,500 youth start vaping. In 2018 alone, the number of high school students who vape nearly doubled. Many adolescents and their parents falsely believe these products are safe and do not realize that they can deliver higher concentrations of addictive nicotine than traditional cigarettes.
To learn more about the health effects of e-cigarettes and their impact on youth, visit heart.org/vaping.