SALEM, Ore. -- A group of Oregon National Guard troops jumped into action to save a heart attack victim in Salem Wednesday.

According to Major Michael Braibish, the unidentified man fell down and stopped breathing at the Anderson Readiness Center just before noon near the medical command office.

ONG nurse Capt. Daryl Ottoway saw it all happen and rushed to check the victim for a pulse. He also called for someone to bring a defibrillator

Oregon National Guard

Sgt. Powell

Army medic Staff Sgt. Richard Powell grabbed the portable gear that was mounted on the wall nearby.

Braibish said the two began CPR and started prepping for the defibrillator. Sgt. Bill Lowe also helped out as several other soldiers called 9-1-1.

The team shocked the patient and he started breathing again.

"We had the right equipment at right time," Powell said. "There are lots of nice things to have, but for that man at that time the AED is what he needed to save his life."

Firefighters soon arrived but as they were transferring the patient he stopped breathing again. That’s when Ottaway alerted medics, so they shocked him again and gave him more oxygen.

The victim started breathing and firefighters took him to Salem Hospital.

"In my 35 years of doing this I've never had anyone whose heart and breathing have stopped -- live," Powell said. "It was like a miracle. I'd never seen it before -- he'd come back."

Braibish said it was only last week that Sgt. Powell had retrained on the defibrillator system and use.