She took 18 CPR classes. And in an instant, they paid off.

Tammy Anderson says in her 32 years as a city of Modesto recreation leader she has taken about a dozen and half CPR classes. She never had to use her training until Wednesday morning.

When Anderson pulled into the parking lot of the King-Kennedy Memorial Center, a man who appeared to be in his 50s was slumped in the front passenger seat of a car parked two spots away. A man in his 20s was standing by the car and hitting the other man in the chest. Every few seconds the older man would gasp. Anderson said she called 911 as soon as she determined the man was in medical distress and the younger man was trying to revive him.

It appeared the two men knew each other, and the younger man told Anderson that the older man may have overdosed on heroin.

The emergency dispatcher instructed Anderson to remove the man from the car. She said the younger man and a bystander did that, placing the older man on the ground. Anderson said other than the gasping every few seconds the man did not appear to be breathing. “It was just a short gasp and then he would lay there with his mouth open,” she said.

Anderson said the dispatcher directed her to start chest compressions.

“When she was giving me instructions on what to do, I thought, ‘it was just like (CPR) class.’ It was pretty neat to see the color come back in his cheeks,” Anderson said. “I didn’t want to hurt him. I just wanted him to come back to life and be OK.”

Modesto firefighters responded. Acting Battalion Chief Darin Jesberg said they determined the man had a pulse and stopped CPR. He said the man had the symptoms of an opiate overdose. Firefighters administered a medication called Narcan to reverse the effects.

Jesberg said the man came to and was breathing on his own, alert and talking, though disoriented, when he was transported to a Modesto hospital. He said privacy laws prohibit the release of additional information.

Jesberg said Anderson and the 911 dispatcher took the right steps given what they knew at the time. He said the pulse can be faint and even stop for those who overdose on opiates. “She did the right thing. The dispatcher did the right thing because of the unknowns,” he said. “She (Anderson) took quick action and she may have actually helped maintain his pulse.”

Anderson said once the emergency responders took over she went into the King-Kennedy Memorial Center to set up her chair exercise class for seniors. She said she looked out the window to see what was happening and eventually saw the man stand up. She didn’t tell her five students what had happened but she did text to her son.

“I’m glad to know what I was taught actually worked,” she said. “I would do it again if I saw something like that again (but) probably with more confidence. I didn’t even tell my supervisor until the end of the day what had happened. I did not want to make a big deal about it.”

City officials did, however.

“Tammy went above and beyond her job today,” Nathan Houx, the acting parks, recreation and neighborhoods manager, said in an email to the city’s executive team. He also pointed out Anderson’s low-key attitude about her heroics. “When medical personnel arrived, Tammy went inside KKMC and set up for the senior exercise program.”

This story was originally published June 23, 2017 at 3:20 PM with the headline "She took 18 CPR classes. And in an instant, they paid off.."