Dr. Mehmet Oz had just arrived at The Palm Beach Book Store for what he thought would be a routine book signing Wednesday night, but suddenly he had to jump into action to help a woman who started to feel dizzy.
"I met a very wonderful woman who scared me a little today, " Dr. Oz said after the signing for his new book Food Can Fix It. "Usually book signings are a pretty timid endeavor."
But, not this time. Out of the corner of his eye, Dr. Oz said he saw a 73-year-old woman starting to sweat and grab onto a nearby neighbor for support. He sat the woman down, but when she still didn’t feel better, he said he knew something else was going on.
Dr. Oz, who is a part-time resident, said her pulse "was a little thready" and she couldn't remember what medicine she took, which can make things a little more difficult. He got the woman some candy.
“[The emergency crew] came in no time and they were so good,” Dr. Oz said of Palm Beach Fire-Rescue. “They had state-of-the-art technology. The EKG they got me was like a hospital EKG. I could really see what was going on, so I could make sure she wasn’t having a heart attack.”
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The woman ended up being fine and got her book signed. Dr. Oz said she mostly likely had low blood sugar and had her call her doctor right there to make an appointment.
“The crowd was so impressive,” Dr. Oz said about the group of 30 people that came to meet him. “They stayed calm, collected. They sat here and waited for her to be triaged without saying anything.”
Sean Baker, Palm Beach Fire-Rescue Battalion Chief, said nothing could have been better for the patient than having Dr. Oz start treatment and our crews respond within minutes. "That's just how we do it in Palm Beach," Baker said Thursday.
So, what was it like to work along-side an award winning television personality and cardiothoracic surgeon?
“Dr. Oz was so humble. He really just wanted to help the patient,” said Baker. “[The crew] was enamored by the doctor.”
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After things settled down, Dr. Oz, who is a part-time resident, posed for pictures and signed copies of his first book in more than 10 years. He joked that "there is no extra charge for the drama."
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