A doctor from the Chicago area sprang into action while on vacation in Disney World, saving the life of a 17-year-old girl.
Jeffery Schiappa is a family medicine doctor at Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox and Premier Suburban Medical Group and was on a family trip to Disney World with his grandkids when something peculiar caught his attention.
“These little girls were over there, they looked like high schoolers, and they were crying,” he said. “And I didn’t know what was happening and then I see this girl on the ground and she wasn’t responsive at that time.”
Schiappa and his son jumped into action.
“My son ran and grabbed an AED, we put the paddles on her… and went ahead and shocked her.”
They ended up needing to shock the 17-year-old girl’s heart twice with the AED, or Automated External Defibrillator. It kept her awake until paramedics arrived, but Schiappa learned she coded twice more on the way to the hospital.
“She was taken to the hospital and was diagnosed with a Long QT Interval, which is a prolonged heartbeat which is predisposed to having irregular beats and sudden death,” he said. “This young person would have not made it if we didn’t come in at that point. She may have gone off to college and never known.”
It was a hidden, life-threatening problem until that moment. She now has a pacemaker device in her chest to keep her safe.
Schiappa said the Disney parks were filled with AEDs, something he says everyone should feel comfortable using, even without a medical background.
“Anybody could have used that AED and they have them everywhere. It’s such a good thing to have, because as soon as you put it on, it tells you if they have an irregular beat,” he told NBC 5. “The machine and all of that comes with the pads and it tells you where to place them on a chest. You just have to be brave enough to use it.”
It’s reasons like these that doctors encourage all young people to get checked for irregular heart rhythms with an ECHO or EKG test.
The girl’s family sent a note to Dr. Schiappa, thanking him for his swift actions.
“It made me feel like I was in the right place at the right time and able to help and save this young girl,” he said.
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