BETHEL – A woman initially believed to have drowned at the Bethel Inn pool Wednesday morning likely suffered a heart attack, an inn spokesman said.

Pauline Ouellette, who lives in Bethel and is said to be in her late 50s, was swimming with friends at about 9 a.m. when they discovered her unconscious and floating face down. She had been in the pool only a couple of minutes.

Her friends tried to revive her using cardiopulmonary resuscitation and notified the inn’s staff, said General Manager Allen Connors. A call was made to 911.

Bethel police Chief Alan Carr said the report initially came in through emergency dispatch as a drowning. When he got to the inn, Carr was told the woman had no pulse but that medics from Bethel Rescue were still working on her.

“They got a pulse back on her and got her ready to be LifeFlighted,” Carr said. “The medics did a fantastic job.”

The woman remained unconscious as paramedics carried her to the helicopter, Connors said. Carr said he had not been updated on Ouellette’s condition.

LifeFlight took her to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston. A nursing supervisor at CMMC said Wednesday night she could not release any information about the patient.