Sun Journal (Lewiston, Maine)

A man who went into cardiac arrest two months ago thanked all involved Monday for saving his life during an American Heart Association Heartsaver Hero ceremony.

Mark Ouellette, 55, was vacuuming the living room floor at his Jay residence on June 4 when his wife, Gaye Ouellette, heard a thud, Blaine Rackliff, emergency medical services chief for the Jay Fire Rescue Department, told those gathered at Jay Fire Station No. 1. She thought it was the Shop Vac falling over again but discovered it was her husband falling to the floor, he said.

Gaye Ouellette called 911 and it rang into the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department’s dispatch center. Dispatchers there instructed her on how to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and she followed their instructions.

Emergency responders from the Jay Police Department, Jay Fire Rescue Department and NorthStar Emergency Medical Services answered the call, Rackliff said.

Initially, Ouellette was not breathing but with CPR and the use of an automated external defibrillator he started again and was taken to the hospital.

He sat next to his wife at the Monday night gathering.

What amazed him, Rackliff said, was how everybody worked so well together. Rackliff, who is also a Franklin County dispatcher, responded as an emergency medical responder for the fire department.

In his 15 years in the emergency medical services, he said, he has not seen a cardiac arrest incident go so smoothly.

“Everyone did an amazing job,” Rackliff said.

Less than 10 percent of cardiac arrest patients make it to a hospital, he said.

Carrie Fortino, executive director of Maine American Heart Association, said that in 2010 the American Heart Association updated its guidelines to improve survival rates of cardiac arrest patients. That included involving bystanders in the effort and using automated external defibrillators.

Cardiac arrests are more common than one thinks, she said.

Nearly 383,000 out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrests occur annually, and 88 percent of cardiac arrests occur at home, she said.

Many victims appear healthy with no known heart disease or other risk factors, she said. Sudden cardiac arrest is not the same as a heart attack. It occurs when electrical impulses in the heart become rapid or chaotic, which causes the heart to suddenly stop beating, according to the association’s website. A heart attack occurs when the blood supply to part of the heart muscle is blocked. A heart attack may cause cardiac arrest, the site states.

Fortino thanked those involved in saving Mark Ouellette’s life and then passed out Heartsaver Awards to emergency responders.

Receiving certificates were Blaine Rackliff, county dispatchers Levi Gould and William Hoyt, who were unable to attend, Jay police Sgt. Troy Young, Jay Fire Rescue emergency responders, Jim Shink, Darren Roundy, Michael Booker and Gary Wright, and NorthStar responders Rod Koehn, Chip Richardson, Steve Almquist and Peter Wade.

Mark Ouellette stood and thanked responders and his wife for what they did.

Larry White Sr., the Jay public safety director, said last year the emergency medical responder service did not exist at the Jay Fire Rescue Department. The Board of Selectpersons approved it and those interested took classes and became certified.

He thanked the board for approving it and making the service possible.

“I think as a board we backed this program for things just like this,” Vice Chairman Justin Merrill said.

The board appreciates all the time and effort the volunteers put in to taking classes and getting certified, he said.

He said he believes they will continue to support the program.

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