The Chain of Survival at a Hockessin church

It was Sunday, October 30, 2022, and Jackie DelCampo was at Mass at St. Mary of the Assumption in Hockessin when she began to not feel well.

She left her pew and headed out of the back of church, telling ushers Leo Hamilton and Tom Green she was going out to her car, but that's when Jackie's Chain of Survival interceded.

Fresh off of a hands-only CPR class conducted by New Castle County Emergency Medical Services (EMS) just ten days before, church ushers Leo Hamilton and Tom Green checked on Jackie and realized she might be having a serious medical emergency.

"We started to assess her and decided we should call 9-1-1," said Hamilton. "I went out and did that and Tom stayed with her. I coordinated with the paramedics, he stayed with her, we brought the two together and the rest is a happy story."

But there were some tense moments as DelCampo lost consciousness and stopped breathing. At that point a stream of first responders from Hockessin, Longwood, and Cranston Heights fire companies arrived on scene along with New Castle County paramedics to perform CPR and provide medications and care that revived her.

The 84-year old DelCampo met her Chain of Survival on Tuesday, March 21, 2023, in the church hall at St. Mary of the Assumption. She had some questions to ask of her rescuers.

"It's almost overwhelming to say 'was I really out for ten minutes? I really could not breathe for ten minutes?'" asked DelCampo of the first responders seated around her who confirmed her situation that day.

"Ten minutes. I was dead? I didn't even see anything! People ask 'did you see the light at the end of the tunnel?' I think I saw a tunnel but I didn't see any light. Obviously I think, and as prayerful a person as I am, I guess He wasn't ready for me," said DelCampo.

Hamilton said the process to have church ushers take the CPR class came about during the pandemic.

"As part of COVID we decided to rethink the roles of our ushers and expand their responsibilities and upgrade their capabilities," said Hamilton. "So it gave us the confidence to recognize the situation, know what to do, and start doing it until the others got here."

On Tuesday Hamilton and Green met DelCampo in the parking circle at the church, the last spot they saw her before she was taken to the hospital. Inside, she had a chance to shake hands, hug, and speak with everyone involved in her recovery and the CPR class.

"I'm back to normal, since the day I woke up, seriously," said DelCampo.

New Castle County EMS Chief Mark Logemann said those first few minutes in a cardiac event are defining and CPR initiated quickly can make the difference.

"Learning CPR is simple, doesn't take much time, but it's absolutely critical to saving someone's life when they go into cardiac arrest," said Logemann.

He pointed out that according to statistics New Castle County has a below average percentage of bystander CPR involvement, and they want to change that.

"Please get trained in CPR," said Logemann. "In this day and age many people are very hesitant to get involved. You have no liability when you get involved and you're trying to help somebody in Delaware who is in cardiac arrest. You gotta get in there, you have to put your hands on their chest, and you need to do chest compressions."

To inquire about hands only CPR training contact New Castle County EMS at 302-395-8184.

Jackie DelCampo believes in divine intervention and CPR. "Oh my gosh yes. Oh definitely, an important message."