Tom Gilpin thought he was in excellent health when he attended dog agility trials at Windjammer Park on Sept. 16. He finished running around the courses with his dog, feeling fine.

“Next thing I knew, I woke up in the back of an ambulance,” Gilpin, of Snohomish, said.

Gilpin had a heart attack and collapsed. If three off-duty nurses hadn’t immediately started CPR, Gilpin most likely would have died.

Carol Knaack, a certified critical care nurse for Whidbey General Hospital, was competing at the show. As she was walking her dog, she heard someone calling for a doctor or nurse and she hurried to help.

A bystander called 911 immediately and as Knaack arrived, people were starting chest compressions, which she said is the right thing to do. She and others took turns performing CPR and mouth-to-mouth respiratory support.

Two minutes later, Oak Harbor Police Department officers Mike Clements and Robert Mirabal arrived with an automated external defibrillator, which all police cars are equipped with. Clements took over CPR while Mirabal hooked up the AED.

They lost Gilpin’s pulse a minute later. It was time for a shock with the AED.

Moments later, Gilpin opened his eyes and asked what happened.

“It was one of the best things I’ve seen done by the public,” said Rich King, Whidbey General Hospital paramedic.

The Whidbey General Hospital Emergency Medical Services Paramedics/Emergency Medical Technician team arrived four minutes after 911 was called. They performed post-resuscitation care, including inserting an IV and oxygen.

Gilpin had never had a heart attack before.

“Certainly I’m lucky to be alive from what the doctors told me. Had it happened in another place or time, I wouldn’t have lived,” Gilpin said. Had he collapsed a few minutes later at his car he might not have been seen in time.

“If the individuals at the dog event hadn’t recognized he was in cardiac arrest and simply called 911 hoping for the best until help arrived, he would have most certainly not survived because for every one minute that someone in cardiac arrest doesn’t get CPR, survivability goes down 10 percent,” said Robert May, Whidbey General Hospital paramedic and public education officer.

“It can happen to anybody and we as a community need to be prepared to help one another,” Knaack said.

In 41 years of nursing, this was the first time she’s been involved in a life-saving event outside of the hospital.

“It was a very satisfying experience because people came together — locals, the police, an ambulance — and we had the proper equipment,” Knaack said.

The AED was provided through a federal grant that the Whidbey General Hospital Foundation obtained earlier this year. Twenty-six AEDs provided by the grant were distributed throughout the community.

“The public should learn CPR and I would love to see AEDs everywhere,” King said.

Emergency Medical Services has made it a goal to teach everyone on Whidbey Island the simple CPR used to save Gilpin and to train every organization that received an AED how to use it.

The CPR program is called Friends and Family CPR and teaches hands-only CPR.

“It’s vitally important for all Whidbey Island residents to learn this new simple yet effective CPR because in 10 minutes we can teach anyone 9 years of age or older how to recognize a person whose heart has stopped, to call 911 and then to perform chest compressions to ‘be the beat’ for the minutes it will take the Emergency Services Team to arrive,” May said.

CPR is vital because if the heart stops beating, blood stops flowing to the brain and organs and may result in death. Heart disease, often appearing as a heart attack, is the leading cause of death in the United States, May said.

About every 25 seconds, an American will have a heart attack and approximately one person every minute will die from a heart attack, May said.

If someone collapses and is unresponsive or breathing abnormally, Knaack said it’s important to call 911 and begin CPR.

To perform CPR, place the victim on a hard, flat surface then push hard, deep in the center of the chest. Compress the chest two inches, 100 times a minute, letting the chest recoil naturally.

Don’t stop until the victim shows signs of life or paramedics arrive.

Warning signs of a heart attack aren’t just chest pain. Discomfort in the center of the chest that feels like pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain can be a sign, as well as discomfort in the arms, back, neck, jaw or stomach. Shortness of breath, with or without chest discomfort, breaking out into a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness may also be warning signs of a heart attack.

“We say ‘call early, call often.’ If you’re having chest pain, don’t wait for a heart attack; call 911 and try to prevent it,” May said.

Making healthy diet and exercise choices is also important for preventing heart attacks, May said.

Gilpin was transported to Skagit Valley Hospital. As he left Windjammer Park in the ambulance, he was already asking for the names of the nurses who saved him so he can send thank-yous, Clements said.

Gilpin is recovering and receiving cardiac care he didn’t realize he needed. He’s taking cardiac rehabilitation classes to learn about healthy diet and exercise choices.

May will teach the Bell Vernon Kennel Association that held the dog agility trials a CPR and AED class. They purchased an AED to take to future events.

Gilpin said he took a CPR class once. He plans to take more.

“If he hadn’t had that CPR he would have died. What saved him was the community coming together, people knowing how to do CPR and work as a team,” Knaack said.

To schedule a CPR class for an individual or group, call Whidbey General Hospital EMS at 678-7620.