RALEIGH (AP) ó State Rep. Becky Carney went into cardiac arrest and collapsed in her office Thursday while talking on the phone, but she was conscious when emergency workers carted her from the building, a fellow lawmaker said.
Police and emergency personnel rushed to Carney’s first floor office at the Legislative Building in Raleigh around 4 p.m.
Rep. Bob England, a medical doctor, said Carney was “totally unconscious” and had no pulse when he arrived. She was revived after England and a General Assembly police officer started CPR and the building’s defibrillator was used on her heart, England said.
Carney’s eyes were open as emergency medical technicians carted her away on a stretcher. She was taken to Wake Med hospital in Raleigh, but there was no immediate word on her condition. Legislative assistants, lobbyists and fellow House members watched and wiped away tears after she was taken away.
Carney, 64, is a four-term Democratic House member who previously served as a Mecklenburg County commissioner. She had been on the phone with Rep. Verla Insko of Orange County when she collapsed.
The defibrillator, which provides an electric current to stop heart arrhythmia, was installed at the Legislative Building several years ago.
“It’s a wonderful thing about having it here,” said England, D-Rutherford.