Get to know the leadership team behind the mission! This month, we sat down with a member of Living for Zachary’s Board of Directors to hear about their role and give you a look at just one of many passionate people who lead Team L4Z each year.
Michael Hartman
Michael, tell us a bit about yourself and your family.
I’ve been married to my wife Paulette for 25 years and have three kids: Carter (19), Jackson (15) and Kayla (11). I’ve be in the medical field for almost 30 years, with most of the time in the area of cardiology.
What do you do for work?
I work for Vyaire Medical, which is an equipment manufacturer of different cardiac and pulmonary products. These products help save lives every day, which I feel ties in perfectly with the mission at L4Z.
How did you first become involved with Living for Zachary?
I first got involved with L4Z about 11 years ago when I was with a company called Frontera. We were approached by L4Z to help provide cardiac screenings through DFW. I became the primary point of contact for L4Z and helped grow the screening program that was offered, with additions like a formal student screening website, online registration, sonographers and cardiologists.
What made you decide to join the Board of Directors?
I was on the AED Donation Committee and currently the Chair of the Heart Screening Committee. I was asked to join the Board of Directors, so that I could share my expertise in the area of cardiac screenings and take the program to the next level. There are so many more lives we can touch and my hope is to help L4Z make that a reality.
How has L4Z given you the opportunity to use your expertise and skills to give back to the community?
L4Z has allowed me to drive the screening program and touch more lives even during the time of COVID. We have started to build a data base of clinical data, which we have plans to use for research in the future. I’ve helped restructure the scholarship program and provide opportunities to students entering sonography programs. This change will allow L4Z to scale the screening program in ways that will ensure the continued success of the organization. Having recently joined the Strategic Planning Committee allows me to look beyond the short term goals and really map out the future for L4Z.
Why are you passionate about preventing sudden cardiac arrest in youth?
SCA is easily preventable and being able to provide affordable cardiac screening to all kids is what drives me. Throughout my career in cardiology I’ve seen the important of early detection many times. Being a dad of three active kids the mission at L4Z really hits home with me.
What aspect of this mission excites you the most? What do you envision for the future?
The ability to provide life-saving screenings, AEDs and CPR is what excites me the most. Our comprehensive protocol allows L4Z to provide best in class care. What I envision for the future is being in all school districts providing a turnkey service 5 days a week. Making the screenings available on campus throughout the school year is next level stuff!
Aside from the Board of Directors, how else do you serve with L4Z?
I was on the AED Donation Committee for a couple of years. Now I’m the Heart Screening Committee Chair, assisting the Scholarship Committee and also working on the Strategic Planning Committee.
Tell us about your role with the Heart Screening Committee. How do you see this program growing and expanding?
As the Chair of this committee, I work closely with the L4Z staff to create the annual budget and screening road map. I help build the relationship with our primary screening vendors by getting agreements in place, adding physicians/clinicians, clinical database development and creating a standardization for all to follow. Some expansion plans we have been starting are the new relationships with sonography programs, which will allow us to scale the screening program in new ways. Other long-term goals are to bring the entire screening process in-house, with our own equipment, staff, etc.
Why do you choose to dedicate your time and talent to L4Z?
Having been involved with the organization for 10+ years I feel a strong connection to the entire L4Z Family. Seeing all the lives we have touched during that time is priceless and helping develop plans for future growth is something I feel blessed to be part of.
Thank you, Michael, for dedicating your expertise to the mission to save lives from sudden cardiac arrest!