It was a lesson the audience may never forget.
A Maine cardiologist giving a lecture on coronary heart disease, along with a team of nurses, saved the life of a member of the audience when the man had a heart attack right in the middle of the class, the Lewiston, Me. Sun Journal reported.
Dr. William Phillips was comparing bypass surgery and heart stents for more than 100 people Monday evening at the Central Maine Medical Center when he was interrupted by the man complaining of chest pain.
"We were talking about angina and this man raised his hand and said, 'I'm having it right now,' " Phillips told the paper. "I said, 'Are you kidding? And he said, 'No.' "
The victim then collapsed, stopped breathing and had no pulse. Without missing a beat, the doctor and the cardiac rehab nurses who had been attending the lecture began CPR on the patient, as another nurse ran for a portable defibrillator. The quick reactions of the group saved the man's life, according to the Sun Journal.
When Phillips was certain the patient was OK and recovering in the hospital's emergency room, he continued the lecture.
"It was a pretty impressive event," Phillips told the Sun Journal. "I think the people will remember the lecture for that."
