Oregon Governor Stops Car to Aid Woman

She's expected to survive after former ER doctor gives her CPR
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted May 6, 2014 8:43 AM CDT
Oregon Governor Stops Car to Aid Woman
Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber looks on during a news conference, Thursday, March 20, 2014, in Salem, Ore.   (AP Photo/Statesman-Journal, Kobbi R. Blair)

On his way to dinner in Portland yesterday, Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber spotted a woman unconscious along the roadside—so he halted his driver, "jumped out of the vehicle," and hurried over, a spokesperson tells the Oregonian. Making use of skills from his days as an emergency-room doctor, he administered CPR to the woman, who was not breathing. His rep tells CNN she "apparently overdosed" on heroin. Kitzhaber had one of his guards call for medical help, and the woman had her heartbeat restored with a defibrillator. She's since been hospitalized and is expected to survive, says a fire official.

"The governor wishes her well and hopes that she seeks treatment in order to avoid the bad situation she was faced with today," his office tells KGW. Kitzhaber took similar action on the campaign trail in 2010. During a debate, an audience member had a seizure, CNN reports. The debate was paused as Kitzhaber ran to the man to help him until medics could get there. Oh, and he also trapped an intruder in a revolving door in 2005. (He and Sen. Cory Booker might have a lot to talk about.)

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