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As they walked through some woods and up a hill, her cousin, Stuart Van Scoyoc, 71, collapsed.

‘‘He just sighed and fell over,” Newcomb said. ‘‘He had no pulse, no respiration, his eyes were open and he was as white as a sheet.”

Newcomb immediately began administering CPR.

‘‘I was amazed that I went into action like I did,” she said. ‘‘I always thought that if I ever had to do it, I would be shaking in my boots. I did do that, but not until afterwards.”

Newcomb said she instinctively ripped open Van Scoyoc’s shirt and started the process.

After working on him for five to seven minutes, Van Scoyoc shuddered and took a deep breath. He was breathing again by the time emergency crews arrived, Newcomb said.

Van Scoyoc, a resident of Leisure World, had a pacemaker installed and is expected to be fine, she added.

Sandy Spring Volunteer Fire Department Deputy Chief Paul Lilly encourages everyone to take CPR classes.

‘‘These skills are invaluable, particularly today when there is access to [Automated External Defibrillators] in many public locations, including community pools, malls, shopping centers and airports,” he said.

Knowing how to use AEDs, perform CPR and properly notify emergency services can save lives, he said.

Newcomb had taken a CPR course in the past, but it had been at least five years. After joining the fire department, officials encouraged her to take the upcoming CPR course.

‘‘I work with mostly a geriatric population, so you’d think that I would have taken CPR every year,” said Newcomb, an audiologist with a practice in Leisure World. ‘‘Everyone needs to re-up their CPR because you just never know when you will need it.”