Lifeguards and parent save life of 2 year old at Hartford pool

A 2 year old seen floundering Monday afternoon at the Veteran’s Memorial Aquatic Center in Hartford was pulled from the water and resuscitated by a nearby parent and lifeguard on duty.

City Administrator Steve Volkert tells http://www.washingtoncountyinsider.com the toddler was found floundering in about 2-feet of water.

“His head was above water but he was struggling and the lifeguard blew her whistle and jumped in,” he said. “The boy was unresponsive and not breathing. The guard got him over to the deck and cleared the pool.”

CPR was started immediately.  About a minute into the CPR a certified nurse was at the scene and helped perform team CPR for about 4 minutes and the boy started breathing again and he was responsive. EMTs arrived, put the boy on oxygen and took him to Aurora Hospital in Hartford as a precaution.

Volkert believe a family member, a grandmother brought the boy to the pool is a resident of Hartford.

“The area in which the child was found normally would have been handled by one lifeguard but the decision by the Park and Rec Director and the pool manager was that we wanted two lifeguards there so one was just looking at that area,” Volkert said. “The lifeguard was specifically scanning that area and we’re really proud of her, she did a great job as did the whole staff.”

Hartford’s new city pool and lazy river opened July 9. The incident with the child happened at 3 p.m. Monday afternoon.

There are 14 lifeguards on staff and the pool and because of the heat, Volkert said, they are seeing over 800 people at the pool each day.

“Today’s incident shows how well our lifeguards and staff are trained,” said Volkert. “It’s one thing for a lifeguard to rescue a 10 or 12-year-old kid but it’s another thing when it’s an infant. They did a great job.”