The sound of a text message and a doctor who, despite being away on holiday, leaves everything to run and save the life of his 13-year-old patient in cardiac arrest. The story of ‘good healthcare’ comes from Turin, from the Regina Margherita children’s hospital. It happened in mid-August, but the news was released today, as the little girl is finally well. Her ordeal began a few years ago, when she became increasingly ill and often lost consciousness. Initially, doctors were unable to ascertain the origin of the disorder, it was assumed that it was neurological. Then the suspicion of a heart problem.
INSIGHTS
What is Loop Recorder
A few months ago the decision of Doctor Fulvio Gabbarini, head of Pediatric Arrhythmology of the Department of Paediatrics directed by Professor Franca Fagioli, to implant a small device called the ‘Loop Recorder’ under the skin. «Its purpose – the doctors explain – was to monitor and record, in real time and wherever the child was, her heartbeat, in order to document whether her illnesses were actually caused by the heart». Thus, through a telemedicine practice, the little girl is subjected to continuous remote monitoring, with the small device connected to a central server. Gabbarini also programs the ‘Loop Recorder’ so that it can transmit, in the event of dangerous events such as cardiac arrest, a text message to her cell phone. «The patient – as highlighted by Regina Margherita – was particularly at risk, because her illness was worsening rapidly».
Cardiac arrest
On August 15th the thirteen-year-old feels ill and faints. Thus she begins the race against time: while her parents take her to the Turin hospital, an alert text message arrives on Gabbarini’s phone. The doctor, on holiday far from Piedmont, warns his staff to proceed with the preliminary tests for hospitalization, while he returns to Turin to implant a pacemaker on the little girl. «Now my daughter is well – says the thirteen-year-old’s mother – she is resuming her normal life. We were lucky enough to have this Loop Recorder implanted, because without it we probably wouldn’t have known the reason for the illness, just as we hadn’t known it in the past. And therefore it would not have been possible to intervene and the next time it might have been too late.” «Dr. Gabbarini showed us the text message he received, complete with a red dot. Without a message, given the holiday period, everything would have been more complicated – the thirteen-year-old’s mother continues in her story – When we arrived the doctors had already received instructions on how to proceed”. After six days the thirteen-year-old was discharged. You will now have to carry out the already scheduled routine checks.