Students and first responders rushed to aid a guest speaker after he collapsed during a lecture at Dwight Bentel Hall Thursday evening, according to witnesses at the scene.
San Jose State University Police Department received a medical emergency call around 6:01 p.m. and immediately sent for an ambulance.
Students exiting the class said the speaker was a substitute for Chief Eric Sills of the Soledad Police Department in Monterey County.
According to MyScheduler on SJSU’s website, the police chief leads a justices studies class on Thursdays at 5:30 p.m. at Dwight Bentel Hall. He was away touring colleges with his son during the incident, according to students at the scene.
Midway through the lecture, the speaker fell to the floor and was unresponsive, according to sociology junior Jasenya Barajas.
As police arrived on the scene, Barajas attempted to resuscitate the lecturer using CPR.
“At first we all thought it was a joke,” Barajas said, who rushed to the speaker after another student asked if anyone knew CPR.
It was Barajas’ first time performing CPR.
“I was trained in CPR, but I’ve never actually done it on someone, then I kind of just ran over and then we ripped off his shirt,” Barajas said. “We were talking to 911… we were just keeping it going until they came and took over.”
The ambulance transported the speaker to a local hospital around 6:20 p.m.
Around 6:32 p.m., a police officer at the scene said that the speaker was breathing when he was driven away.
