Holmdel Toddler’s Unexplained Death Now Studied In Med School
HOLMDEL, NJ – First-year medical students at the Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine will be the first class in the nation to be taught SUDC, or Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood. The curriculum addition comes thanks to one Holmdel mother, who is now a highly recognized advocate for awareness and education surrounding the mysterious label of death in children.
SUDC, not to be confused with SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), is not a household name: although it is a term used by medical examiners when they find no other reason to explain why an otherwise healthy child 1-18 years old suddenly passes away, the term has not been included in first-year medical education. An estimated 400 American children every year are given the SUDC label, and that number may be even higher as some deaths are incorrectly classified or not reported.
The effort to raise awareness and education surrounding SUDC comes from one Holmdel resident, an advocate and mother who lost her own child in 2017. Dr. Denise Wunderler has been a leading voice for the cause – going on to co-found the SUDC Coalition and found Team Vienna 4 SUDC Awareness Inc. – since her daughter Vienna Carly Savino suddenly passed away two months before her third birthday. Read more: Holmdel Family Raises Awareness Of SUDC After Toddler Girl Dies
In recent months, Wunderler has presented her lecture “Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood (SUDC): My Personal Tragedy” at Penn Medicine/Princeton Medical Center, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Staten Island University Hospital (SIUH), Ocean Medical Center and TOURO-COM Medical School in New York, just to name a few.
“SUDC is not officially included in any medical curriculum for physicians across the US or in the world, which is why Dr. Wunderler’s presentations are that much more imperative to be heard,” Team Vienna 4 SUDC Awareness wrote in a press release.
“Shockingly, most physicians have never heard of SUDC, as was the case with Vienna's parents, both physicians, when she died on November 12, 2017. They knew of SIDS, however this category of death only includes thoroughly investigated unexplained deaths in kids less than 1 year old, however SUDC includes kids 1-18 years old.”
Related: This Holmdel family does not need another tragedy: In 2017, they lost their daughter. Now the dad, a veteran, is fighting to beat covid-19.
Related: Must-See Video: Neighbors Cheer Holmdel Doc Who Beat Coronavirus
Wunderler’s strides – which has since gained her recognition in the national and international SUDC spheres in the process – eventually captured the attention of the Dean of Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine, who made a commitment earlier this year to add SUDC to the medical curriculum for the upcoming school year. To Wunderler’s knowledge, the Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine is the first medical school in the world to foster SUDC education among its students.
“It will likely begin with teaching SUDC in conjunction with SIDS during the first two years of medical school, then reinforcing the information with a case study module in the third year based on Vienna’s tragic story,” the nonprofit wrote.
“Dr. Wunderler will assist in these educational goals and continue her trailblazing efforts in honor of all SUDC kids. Other medical schools across the country are looking to follow a similar path.”
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This article originally appeared on the Holmdel-Hazlet Patch
