George Ford, center, feels thankful to be alive these days after suffering cardiac arrest on Nov. 18. On the road to recovery, he recently stopped by Kennebunk Fire Rescue to express his gratitude. Here are Chris Boynton, Taylor Richardsom, Nate Chapman, Ford, District Chief Justin Cooper holding a cardiac monitor,  and Capt. Jay Byron. Tammy Wells Photo

KENNEBUNK – When Kennebunk Fire Rescue paramedic Taylor Richardson told Kennebunk resident George Ford “it’s nice to see you,” he really meant it.

“I feel wonderful, I’m happy I’m here,” said Ford on a visit to the station on Thursday, Dec. 10.

He very nearly wasn’t here, and credits his recovery from cardiac arrest to the skilled Kennebunk Fire Department emergency medical team that swiftly came to his aid.

Ford, 72, was outside his Kennebunk home on Nov. 18, working on a birdfeeder he was building – one that he hoped would finally thwart the squirrels and keep them from eating all the seeds that would otherwise go to the birds.

“I was cleaning up some tools and passing them to my housemate, Sandra Humphries, through the window,” said Ford, recalling what details he could about the day.

“He said ‘I feel a little dizzy,” said Humphries, a retired operating room nurse. “I could see him walking in a circle, he was very wobbly and hit the dust.”

She called 9-1-1, and then sprang into action, taking his pulse and grabbing a blanket to keep Ford warm.

“It was numbingly cold,” she said. “The air was frigid.”

She said when Ford stopped drawing breaths,  she gave him a healthy whack on the back to re-start his breathing. “I had some hope he might make it. It was up to the EMTs,” she said.

Ford doesn’t recall much of what transpired.

“The last thing I remember until waking up when the ambulance was unloading me at Maine Med,” said Ford. “I was oblivious to all that had gone on. When I woke up, the nurse told me “your heart stopped for half an hour.”

Ford, a retired real estate broker whose great-grandfather was born in Kennebunk, moved to town about five years ago from New Hampshire and lives not too far from central station, which is located at the town hall on Summer Street.

His proximity was to his advantage, paramedics and EMTs were able to get there quickly, assess the situation and start cardio pulmonary resuscitation, along with other medical treatment and procedures.

“It went really well,” said Richardson, part of the team that included District Chief Justin Cooper and Nate Chapman of Kennebunk Fire Rescue, and Kennebunk Police Officer Chris Carney.

Cooper read the notes accompanying the 9-1-1 call and discerned that Ford was in cardiac arrest even before the call was dispatched.

“Only 10 percent of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests without bystander CPR survive,” said Cooper. “There was no bystander CPR in this case but there was early activation of the 9-1-1 system, close proximity to a staffed fire station with paramedics, and a rapid response.”

He said every minute without bystander CPR, or without CPR by anyone decreases the chances of survival by 10 percent.

“What is important to note is how crucial it is for the public to be trained in CPR and get (EMS) activated through 9-1-1 as soon as possible,” said Cooper.

According to the American Heart Association, 475,000 Americans die from cardiac arrest annually. Currently, the American Red Cross offers online CPR courses and classroom courses at their Congress Street location in Portland.

Ford said he had his first heart attack at 39, his second at 45, is a cancer survivor and suffered a stroke in August.

He said he had no forewarning, no symptoms, that cardiac arrest was imminent – except the bout of dizziness that immediately preceded it.

“All things considered, I am doing well,” Ford said. “I have a lot to be thankful for.”

He is thankful for Humphries, whom, he said, checked on him at just the right moment. And he is thankful to the emergency medical personnel who came to his aid, and kept working on him at the scene and as they transported him to Southern Maine Health Care, prior to his transfer to Maine Medical Center.

They chatted together in the ambulance bay of what had transpired on that mid-November day, and Ford expressed his thanks.

“You were literally, in my case, holding me in the brink of death,” Ford said.