FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - A South Florida musician expressed his gratitude toward the 911 dispatcher and Broward Health surgeon who helped save his life after he suffered a heart attack.
Rock ‘n’ roll guitarist Sal Italiano jams his bass on stage. His musical career has taken him around the world. But on Friday, there was a much quieter moment at Broward Health Medical Center.
Italiano and his wife Christine thanked the people who kept his heavy metal heart beating after his medical emergency back in December.
“I woke up and my husband wasn’t breathing, and I grabbed my phone and I called 911,” Christine said.
Dispatcher Jason Savitt would answer that call, and what he did over the next several minutes saved Italiano’s life.
“When she said he wasn’t breathing, I knew I had to get right into the CPR and help him out,” Savitt said.
A new Florida law mandates that dispatchers are able to walk callers through CPR.
Italiano’s surgeon, Dr. Kenneth Herskowitz, said it was the difference between life and death.
“He eventually needed to have open heart surgery, and he did great from that, and thank God to these guys for getting him to where he needed to be,” Herskowitz said.
Italiano spent the next several weeks in the hospital. He’s not back on stage yet, though he said it won’t be long.
“The guitar’s in my hand, I’m already playing. That was in my hand in like two weeks,” Italiano said.
A rock star was saved by his loving wife, a cool-under-pressure dispatcher and a heart surgeon, each with a crucial role in a rescue that started with CPR.
“If something so simple as knowing CPR can save a life the way they saved mine, it’s a miracle, it really is a miracle,” Italiano said.
Doctors advise everyone should learn CPR. They offer classes at Broward Health.
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