What is IA (not TIA) or are they the same?

[Mir_July]

This question doesn't directly concern me in a health-related way.  But on Easter Sunday, I was having brunch with my family, and these two older ladies were talking about their recent health, and one told the other about an episode she had recently had at the mall.  (I am sorry I eavesdropped, but they were talking somewhat loudly.)  Supposedly, she was at the mall with a different friend and had decided to sit down on one of the benches because she felt tired.  The next thing she remembers is coming to and struggling to get up.  Apparently, there was a stranger who sat not too far away and was now bending over her--she had keeled over.  But when she came to, she deflected and declined all help.  She told the now small-gathering crowd that she needed someone to hand her her purse because her needles were inside.  She had assured the crowd that this has happened before, if someone could only hand her her purse.  Anyway, she said that after injecting herself in the heart she felt better, and was able to get into a seating position, from which she then was able to get up.  

I remember her referring to her condition as IA, and that her father had had it, too, along with MS, because she then recounted to this brunch friend the first time she learned that her father had it.  He had been out in the fields plowing when he found himself coming to, after fainting over the plow.  So I gather that this IA condition is hereditary.  

These are the details I remember, but when I tried looking up "IA" and "heart injections" to learn more about the condition, I cannot find much on this topic.  So I was wondering if IA is, in fact, TIA (transient ischemic attack).  And if so, what is the needle in the heart thing that can be self-administered?