A 3-year-old boy was hospitalized in critical condition Thursday night after being pulled unconscious from the swimming pool in his back yard, authorities said.
The toddler’s grandfather found him floating in the pool about 4:20 p.m. in the 14800 block of Waverly Lane, said Capt. Steve Concialdi of the Orange County Fire Authority.
The child’s father started cardiopulmonary resuscitation, the captain said. OCFA firefighter/paramedics arrived and took the boy to Hoag Hospital in Irvine, where doctors and nurses eventually got a pulse, Concialdi said.
The child was then transferred to Children’s Hospital of Orange County, where he was listed in critical condition, Concialdi said.
The boy’s prognosis was unclear, according to Concialdi, who said it was unclear how long the child was in the water before he was found.
The pool did not have an isolation fence with a self-closing and latching gate, which is recommended for any pool or spa that could be accessed by children, Concialdi said.
There have been 82 drowning or near-drowning calls in Orange County this year, with 29 resulting in fatalities, compared to 86 calls, 43 of them fatal, in 2014, Concialdi said.
But even in some of the non-fatal cases, victims have suffered severe permanent disabilities, he said.
— City News Service