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This version of NSU News has been archived as of February 28, 2019. To search through archived articles, visit nova.edu/search. To access the new version of NSU News, visit news.nova.edu.
This version of SharkBytes has been archived as of February 28, 2019. To search through archived articles, visit nova.edu/search. To access the new version of SharkBytes, visit sharkbytes.nova.edu.
Timely CPR Training Helps Physician Assistant Student Save Grandfather’s Life
Call it divine intervention or simple synchronicity. How else do you explain the circumstances surrounding the lifesaving procedure NSU physician assistant student Michelle Casares, was able to perform on her grandfather just days after completing her Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) training? Casares completed the training through NSU College of Osteopathic Medicine’s Department of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Education and Training.
What began as a routine July morning quickly turned dire when her grandfather, who has a history of heart problems, suddenly shut his eyes and stopped speaking while she was preparing breakfast. “He didn’t go fully unconscious at first,” Casares in an interview she gave to the Key Biscayne newspaper, The Islander News.
Instinctively, Casares, who is at student at NSU’s College of Allied Health and Nursing, dialed 911. But as she was receiving instructions from the dispatcher, her grandfather collapsed. Calling on the ACLS training she had just learned in class, she sprang into action. “You think you wouldn’t be able to do it—that you’d get emotional and freak out,” explained Casares of performing a life-saving procedure on a loved one. “The truth is you’re full of adrenaline. You utilize your adrenaline and training, and you just act.”
Fortunately, Casares’ story has a happy ending. Her resuscitation attempts proved successful, and her grandfather made a quick and full recovery. “He was a textbook cardiac arrest, but had I not had that training just the week before, I may not have been able to pick up on it so fast,” she said. “I may not even have recognized it as cardiac arrest.”
When news of Casares’ medical heroics reached Kevin Nugent, REMT-P, program director of the Department of EMS Education and Training, he was understandably proud that the training she received through his department helped save a life. “Although incidents like this have been rare, they are the driving force that keeps me so excited about teaching such skills to individuals,” Nugent stated. “That’s why I live by the motto, ‘What you learn today may save someone’s life.’”