Five deputies and a dispatcher were honored Thursday for their efforts in saving a toddler who was allegedly drowning at Don Knabe Park in Cerritos.
They were honored at a Thursday morning ceremony at the Cerritos City Council chamber, 18125 Bloomfield Ave., according to the Sheriff’s Information Bureau.
“Here in L.A .County, we have the best first responders in the nation. In a county as vast as ours, anything can go wrong and they are our first line of defense to protect human life,” said Supervisor Janice Hahn in a news statement.
“That evening, our Cerritos sheriff’s station received what must be one of the worst calls imaginable,” Hahn said. “But their training and commitment to the safety of our public never faltered.”
Deputies were dispatched to the park in the 19700 block of Bloomfield Avenue on March 29 at 8:01 p.m. in response to a call of a “possible baby drowning,” according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
The toddler was rushed to a hospital as a safety precaution, but did not drown, a sheriff’s spokesperson told City News Service.
“Deputies Viveros, Alvarez, Mutum, Mailloux and Chavez and dispatcher Gutierrez represent the very best of our L.A. County family,” Hahn said. “For the rest of that child’s life, their extraordinary actions at Don Knabe Park on that Saturday evening will have made everything possible.”