It took 35 minutes and three 911 calls before emergency workers began rescue efforts for a man dying of a heart attack in the lobby of a downtown apartment building, a coroner’s inquest heard Tuesday.

The first two 911 calls were assigned a low priority, even though James Hearst, 59, had a history of serious heart problems, government lawyer Stefania Fericean said in her opening remarks at an inquest into Hearst’s death.

She noted that paramedics arrived earlier on the evening of June 25, 2009, but chose to stand by around the corner from his Alexander St. apartment building and wait for a police escort while a security guard and passersby tried unsuccessfully to save Hearst.

I saved an old lady who went into respiratory arrest last night