As Tara Conlon was walking through the doors of the Multnomah County Courthouse on Dec. 28, she collapsed. She stopped breathing. Her heart soon gave out, too.
The 34-year-old bank supervisor didn't know it, but she has an irregular-heartbeat condition that caused her heart to stop.
Luckily for her, a Multnomah County sheriff's deputy and a criminal defense attorney who were paramedics in prior careers happened to be nearby. Deputy Adam Levin, who works in the courthouse, first saw Conlon on her hands and knees, struggling to breathe. She had thrown up.
"She was blue," said Levin, 36.
Just then, attorney Russell Barnett stopped to help. He realized in a few seconds that Levin had similar expertise.
"I made reference to some very technical breathing term," said Barnett, 45. "I said, 'Looks like Cheyne-Stokes respiration. And he said 'Yeah, with perioral cyanosis. And we both looked at each other like, 'Yeah, we both know what we're talking about here.' "
Levin, who'd been a paramedic for most of the 1990s in San Diego, cleared Conlon's airway. Barnett, who'd worked as a paramedic in Austin, Texas, for most of the 1980s, held her on her side, then searched Conlon's purse for medications that could have caused the episode.
Levin rubbed Conlon's sternum, hoping to elicit a response to the discomfort it creates. He got nothing --Conlon was in cardiac arrest.
Just as Levin began the first few thrusts of chest compressions, Portland firefighters arrived and shocked Conlon back to life. In all, the deputy-attorney pair guess they worked on Conlon for three to five minutes before professional help arrived.
Both men remember people walking into the courthouse, life as usual, even as they worked on Conlon.
"People were stepping over us," Levin said.
The foreclosure auction that Conlon had planned to attend continued on the front steps, with the auctioneer shouting out bids. The scene reminded Barnett of the time years ago when he was doing CPR at a supermarket and a shopper asked his co-worker how much the asparagus was.
Conlon spent the next four days at OHSU Hospital, where she had a defibrillator installed. Conlon has since learned her condition has a name --long QT syndrome, which doctors tell her is probably genetic.
The Milwaukie resident has spent all of January at home, regaining strength. She plans to return to work Monday --but only for two hours a day at first, doctor's orders.
"I've never been so excited to go back to work," Conlon said. She works for OnPoint Community Credit Union at Montgomery Park.
Conlon, who is engaged to be married, is thankful to Levin, Barnett, the Portland firefighters, the hospital staff and everyone down the line who made her recovery possible.
Conlon's mother has written Levin and Barnett thank-you cards, but Conlon says a proper visit is in order to thank the first strangers who stepped in.
"To be honest, I haven't been able to thank them," she said. "I don't know what I'll say. I'll probably start bawling."
Aimee Green:503-294-5119; aimeegreen@news.oregonian.com
