BETHEL — Officials spent more than two hours Sunday night rescuing a downed hiker who appeared to go into cardiac arrest on Albany Mountain Trail.

David Hanscom, chief of the Bethel Ambulance Service, said two men had been hiking about a half-mile in by Crocker Pond when 911 received a call of a person down and unresponsive at 6:15 p.m.

“The hiking partner was doing really good CPR — this is where we’re really thankful for people who are trained to do so,” Hanscom said.

After the first Bethel ambulance responder delivered a shock with an AED, the man, in his 60s, began breathing on his own and regained a pulse. He was hand-carried out in a basket litter, received more treatment and was taken by ambulance to a field on Flat Road, where LifeFlight was waiting and took off at 8:30 p.m.

PACE helped at the scene, as did the Bethel Fire Department and two deputies from the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office.

“Lots of people to thank — we couldn’t have done it without them,” Hanscom said. “We’re just hopeful that this all turns out well for this gentleman.”

kskelton@sunjournal.com