This happened Wednesday night. So two men are having a debate; they’re vying to be the Democratic candidate for Governor of Oregon in the next election. The men are former Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber and former Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury. Video of the debate is streaming live on Bradbury’s campaign website. In the middle of the debate, someone in the crowd yells: “Is there a doctor in the house?” Kitzhaber, who is a former E.R. doctor, jumps off the stage and runs into the crowd. According to an account of the incident (also the source of the photo above, a screen grab from the live video), this is what happened next:

I spoke to Jeff Scroggin, the UO Dems president, about what happened.

Scroggin was near the older man, whom he described as a “regular at free college events”, when he fell to the ground and started “frothing blood at the mouth, having a real bad seizure”.

Dr. Kitzhaber “ran over, took his jacket off, and started giving him first aid” keeping his airways clear and helping him breathe. Paramedics arrived and took the man to the nearby hospital. As they were loading the man into an ambulance, a paramedic told the students that the man “going to be OK.”

After a 21-minute interruption, the debate resumed. Bill Bradbury greeted Kitzhaber back to the stage with a thumbs up and applause. After the first post-interruption question (on prison reform), Bradbury said, “I just want to say that I think John has just shown he was in fact a remarkable emergency room doctor; able to give such a great answer after dealing with that [incident].”

Um, wow. More information from Blue Oregon, the video stream of the debate (the incident occurs at 1:37), and coverage by the Register-Guard which also discusses the substance of the debate.