Last Updated on September 11, 2022
Dr. Mehmet Oz, a cardiothoracic surgeon and GOP nominee for Senate in Pennsylvania, rushed into the crowd at a Bucks County rally on Saturday after a woman collapsed. Oz and two additional medically trained PA politicians provided aid while waiting for paramedics to arrive. The longtime TV doctor later informed supporters that the woman is doing well after the incident.
Oz reportedly leapt into action within 30 seconds after the woman collapsed. The Senate hopeful jumped over a barrier that separated the stage from the crowd to give the woman aid.
Dr. Oz is doing a rally in my hometown tonight in Bucks County, PA. A woman in the audience apparently collapsed and he hoped over the railing to help her as they waited for the paramedics to arrive.
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) September 10, 2022
Oz conducted a “preliminary assessment” of the woman who collapsed, according to Oz campaign spokesperson Brittany Yanick. He then stayed with the woman until paramedics arrived and escorted her out of the venue on a stretcher.
The crowd reportedly applauded Oz after the incident. In addition to Oz, Pennsylvania State Senate candidate Matt McCullough, a trained nurse, and state Rep. Frank Farry, a fire chief, assisted with providing aid to the woman.
The Oz campaign later told ABC News that the woman is doing well after the collapse. “Rita, god bless her, is doing well,” Oz told supporters.
Medics at a @DrOz event wheeled out a woman who appeared to collapse near the stage. Oz rushed in from backstage and stayed with her until the stretcher came.
“Rita, god bless her, is doing well,” he said when he took the stage later. #PASEN pic.twitter.com/zYUA7Tvg88
— Will McDuffie (@wrmcduff) September 10, 2022
According to the Delaware Valley Journal, the Trump-backed candidate has assisted with medical emergencies in the past. In 2015, Oz jumped over a barrier in order to provide medical aid to a woman in an almost identical incident and one of his promotional events.
Dr. Oz began his medical career with a residency at the Presbyterian Hospital in New York City, then affiliated with Columbia University, in 1986. In 1995, he and his colleague Jerry Whitworth founded the Cardiac Complementary Care Center to provide various types of alternative medicine to heart disease patients.
Oz became a professor at the Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons in 2001, a title he held until 2018.
