Doctor stops lecture to aid heart attack victim

LEWISTON, Maine - A cardiologist and a team of nurses are being credited with saving the life of a heart attack victim, but it wasn't in an emergency room.

Dr. William Phillips was giving a lecture Monday on heart disease at the Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston when he was interrupted by a man complaining of chest pain.

Phillips asked a nurse to take the patient to the emergency room, but he collapsed. The victim wasn't breathing and had no pulse.

One of three cardiac nurses grabbed a defibrillator to help restart the man's heart. Meanwhile, paramedics arrived and took the patient to the emergency room.

Phillips tells the Sun Journal the man is now doing fine.

"I went over to the emergency room, and he was sitting up in the bed, talking with his wife and waiting for test results," the doctor told the Sun Journal.

After the interruption, Phillips continued his lecture.

"After we had taken a breather, everybody wanted to continue on with the talk," he told the newspaper. "It was a pretty impressive event. I think the people there will remember the lecture for that."