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Real Life ‘Catch Me If You Can’: Teen Posed As Physician’s Assistant, Performed Exams, CPR

Real Life Catch Me If You Can: Teen Poses As ER Assistant, Performs Exams, CPR

Matthew Scheidt (Media credit: The Orlando Sentinel)

It’s like he was living out a scene from “Catch Me If You Can” — police say a 17-year-old boy posed as an emergency room physician’s assistant for five days, performing physical exams, cleaning wounds and even doing CPR before hospital officials got suspicious and called the cops.

Matthew Scheidt was arrested Friday and charged with five felonies after officials at Osceola Regional Medical Center in Osceola, Fla. started to doubt the fresh-faced PA really was who he said he was. It was not immediately clear whether anyone was injured as a result of his actions.

“He was able to go hands-on with a couple of patients. He changed bandages. There was one report where he did a physical examination on some disrobed male patients. There’s a report where he possibly did chest compressions for about five minutes to a cardiac patient,” said Stacie Miller, public information officer for the Kissimmee Police Department told Reuters.

The Orlando Sentinel reported:

Scheidt obtained hospital credentials by claiming to be a physician’s assistant in a program at Nova Southeastern University, records show.

He apparently knew the hospital from working as a part-time billing clerk for a local group of surgeons. When Scheidt applied for a hospital identification badge on Aug. 24, he told the personnel office he worked as a P.A. for Surgical Management Group and needed a new badge because the surgical practice had changed its name to Osceola Surgical Associates, the arrest report states.

In the days that followed, Scheidt returned at least twice to request a full-access badge that would let him use the doctors’ lounge as well as restricted areas of the hospital, according to the report.

According to the Sentinel, Scheidt’s tale began to unravel when an office manager for the surgical group confronted him. He claimed to be a deputy sheriff working in the ER on an undercover investigation so “top secret” the agency would not verify his employment.

Incidentally, Scheidt had once been a member of the Osceola County sheriff’s teen program before he was kicked out for wearing equipment that could mislead the public into thinking he was a real deputy, including a law enforcement badge and bulletproof vest.

When first questioned by police, the teen said he never posed as a physician’s assistant, and instead said he was just shadowing an ER clerk to learn the hospital’s billing system. He showed a detective his hospital ID, a white lab coat with a PA’s reference book, pen light and notepad in the pockets.

The Sentinel:

During the week he frequented the emergency room, Scheidt dressed in surgical scrubs and a lab coat identifying him as a physician’s assistant, continued asking for a full-access badge to the rest of the hospital and twice claimed to be a deputy sheriff as well, records state.

As part of his duties, Scheidt interviewed patients, read through confidential medical records, performed physical exams on disrobed male patients, cleaned wounds, restrained a combative patient and performed CPR on a patient in cardiac arrest. Police reports do not indicate if Scheidt received evaluations of his work from the hospital.

The teen’s father, Matthew Scheidt Sr., told ABC he has no explanation for his son’s action.

“If you can come up with a reason, I’m all ears. I’m completely and totally all ears,” he said. “I don’t know if I should get him psychological help. I just don’t know.”

Comments (42)

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  • snufy
    Posted on September 5, 2011 at 6:06pm

    He was probably as good as any of the rest of them. When I go to visit at the hospital, I walk past the nurse’s station and tell them to cancel the rest of my surgeries for the day, as I have to get to the country club for tee time. They laugh.

    Report Post » snufy  
  • TomFerrari
    Posted on September 5, 2011 at 8:12am

    SERIOUSLY sounds like Frank Abagnale, Jr. stuff !

    LAUGHING AT MYSELF: I didn‘t catch the headline’s reference to the movie (because I couldn’t remember the name of the movie) but then I went and did my own research and was reminded. And THEN I read the article. Guess I should have read the article first.
    .
    Are Halloween costumes not enough for folks anymore?
    (‘fancy dress’ for those in the U.K.)
    .
    .
    .

    Report Post » TomFerrari  
  • artmonster1204
    Posted on September 5, 2011 at 7:55am

    The same thing is going on in the White House. Some guy is pretending to be the president but people in Washington are too stupid to figure it out.

    Report Post »  
    • riverat1970
      Posted on September 5, 2011 at 9:03am

      amen to that one. i believe one day the truth will come out.

      Report Post »  
  • florida123
    Posted on September 5, 2011 at 7:05am

    And they want Medical Malpractice reform………Come on Healthcare industry do your damn job and the least you can do is hire people that have the creditials to do the job! Wonder how many people died or became seriously ill because this kid examined them and made recommendations for further treatment. This hospital better prepare its lawyers, they have massive lawsuits coming their way and deserve every last one of them!!!!!

    Report Post » florida123  
  • otmonger
    Posted on September 5, 2011 at 6:15am

    Can’t check I.D Might a illegal alien.

    Report Post » otmonger  
  • Ghandi was a Republican
    Posted on September 5, 2011 at 12:14am

    Obamacare – dry run…

    Report Post » Ghandi was a Republican  
  • Azreal
    Posted on September 4, 2011 at 10:14pm

    you must know the other jackass that posted this. Only different links? Hope they ban you for being stupid

    Report Post » Azreal  
  • Komponist-ZAH
    Posted on September 4, 2011 at 9:21pm

    Was he any good at the job? Did he intentionally harm anyone?

    Report Post »  
    • greensteam
      Posted on September 4, 2011 at 9:59pm

      he made the doctors look bad.

      Report Post »  
    • greensteam
      Posted on September 4, 2011 at 10:17pm

      in some of the ERs ive been in there was no initiative. the doctors only poked there head in your curtain to say one sentence and then leave. they release you and then you get a separate bill from the doctor for a few hundred bucks that your insurance didnt cover and all he did was talk for 3 seconds. sounds like this guy was kinda working with no possability of getting a usable paycheck but maybe not. at least he wont charge me for poking his head in the curtain.

      Report Post »  
  • thegreatcarnac
    Posted on September 4, 2011 at 9:13pm

    If he were really smart…he would have posed as a gynecologist.

    Report Post »  
    • Hobbs57
      Posted on September 4, 2011 at 11:40pm

      Oh yeah, why not just be a dentist and knock them out and rape them you sick unrighteous thinking fool.Besides, What do you think really beautiful women frequent the hospital you sicko !! I am not quite sure he would be thinking he was so smart when a 400 lb women, who can’t even reach those places to wash herself, forces you to take a look…. You are either a young kid or maybe you really are just that sick.

      Report Post » Hobbs57  
    • ms.sandman
      Posted on September 5, 2011 at 4:19pm

      Why do men think it would be fun to be a OBGYN? That’s why I go to a woman OBGYN. Do you really think that all the women sitting in your waiting room are supermodels? Most male OBGYN’s will tell you, the job didn’t turn out the way they thought it would.

      Report Post » ms.sandman  
  • Cat
    Posted on September 4, 2011 at 9:05pm

    Walked into Cedars Medical Center near Miami Florida once, dressed in a business suit.
    CMC is a topnotch gynecologic cancer facility, among other principles.
    Three passing female nurses addressed me as doctor.
    A male doctor at the nurse’s station asked me why I was not wearing my physician’s ID.
    Told the doctor, I’m not a medical doctor, then went on my way to a family member’s room.
    It can happen folks … Be careful.

    Report Post » Cat  
  • Glenn in Virginia
    Posted on September 4, 2011 at 8:54pm

    The original “Catch Me If You Can” teen, Frank Abagnale, was “real life,” too.

    Or had the writer forgotten?

    Report Post »  
  • lanurse1
    Posted on September 4, 2011 at 6:57pm

    I graduated as a Family Nurse Practitioner in May and did my last 300 clinical hours in the ER. I can’t believe it took the staff 5 days to catch on~~that ER may have more problems than just the poser.

    Report Post »  
  • whatthecrazy
    Posted on September 4, 2011 at 6:37pm

    This is what happens when you spare the rod or ignor it totally………..

    Report Post »  
  • Slowman101
    Posted on September 4, 2011 at 6:11pm

    Another benfit of the stimulus program!

    Report Post »  
  • squeaker
    Posted on September 4, 2011 at 6:01pm

    And for those that were shy about undressing for him, he’d turn out the lights… and when the patient asked where to put their clothes.. the fake doctor would reply… over here next to mine…!!! :) lol

    Report Post »  
  • chips1
    Posted on September 4, 2011 at 5:53pm

    If you hang around Chicago long enough, you can get your President I.D. card.

    Report Post »  
  • clingingtogodandguns
    Posted on September 4, 2011 at 5:20pm

    Another nonexistent job obummer is claiming.

    Report Post »  
  • ying
    Posted on September 4, 2011 at 5:15pm

    I would NEVER go to that hospital after that. No matter what, even if it was for free! And I will want to see complete credentials of each and every person who will be doing a job pertaining to my care, with a signed statement by the hospital that a copy of these credentials given to me is kept on file at the hospital. Then, my lawyer will receive a copy, then they can operate.

    Report Post » ying  
  • coryf076
    Posted on September 4, 2011 at 5:13pm

    seriously…hardly catch me if you can! frank abignale was a bad a$.s

    Report Post »  
  • Mahdi Al-Dajjal
    Posted on September 4, 2011 at 5:08pm

    I mean… if this guy really wanted to fondle people’s genitals, why wasn’t he posing as a TSA agent?

    Report Post » Mahdi Al-Dajjal  
  • ConservativeChristianB1954
    Posted on September 4, 2011 at 4:50pm

    If Obama Care stays on the books, this is the kind of medical care we will get…..if any at all LOL

    Report Post » ConservativeChristianB1954  
  • bhosux
    Posted on September 4, 2011 at 4:39pm

    He will probably claim that he is a George Bush victim and will need to be compensated for his anguish and pain. The men that he did the exams on will probably be arrested for child molestation and abuse. The hospital will also receive “ Homeland Security ” funds and will then be shut down for child labor law infractions. In a few years he will have his own sitcom or reality show.

    Report Post » bhosux  
    • crackerone
      Posted on September 4, 2011 at 4:50pm

      I’m not a docter, but………….I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

      Report Post »  
  • Cynic-clinic
    Posted on September 4, 2011 at 4:33pm

    So what’s new??? We‘ve got an imposter in the white house that’s been running the world for nearly three years and even after being exposed, the MSM still think he is G0D. At least the hospital was smart enough to find the truth–some 52% of US voters are still blind.

    Report Post »  
  • nuttyvet
    Posted on September 4, 2011 at 4:24pm

    I’m working my butt off right now in PA school… if I knew it was this easy, I’d just show up at the ER!

    Report Post » nuttyvet  
    • SgtB
      Posted on September 4, 2011 at 4:44pm

      Looks like he wanted to become a PA without having to go through all the BS hoops at the AMA dog and pony show. Does anyone not place the blame for him working there “illegally” on the people who are supposed to be managing the emergency room and the hospital in general? The report says he did chest compressions on a person in cardiac arrest, but it doesn‘ say if that act saved the person’s life. Nice way to answer all the obvious questions.

      Report Post » SgtB  
  • Freedom Keeper
    Posted on September 4, 2011 at 4:23pm

    Freak

    Report Post »  
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