Dad, Rescue Personnel Save Two-Year Old Boy’s Life
By Space Coast Daily // March 17, 2015
boy nearly drowns in backyard swimming pool
BREVARD COUNTY • PALM BAY, FLORIDA – A two-year old boy nearly drowned in a backyard swimming pool Tuesday morning but a quick response from his father, family and emergency personnel saved his life.
Palm Bay police dispatchers received a call at 9:32 a.m., from a home on Alhambra Rd. SE, where the boy’s grandfather claimed his grandson had fallen into the pool and wasn’t breathing.
The dispatcher attempted to provide CPR instructions to the father over the telephone.
According to the Palm Bay Police Department, police officers Byron Patrick and Darin Morgan arrived at the home and took over CPR.
Firefighter-paramedic Cheryl Parente and Firefighter Tyler Richmond arrived on scene and immediately continued CPR and rescue breathing measures using oxygen and a bag valve mask.
They were able to revive the boy, regaining a shallow pulse and slow respiration. The boy was then airlifted to the hospital in critical condition.
Detectives with the Special Victims Unit responded to the home to investigate.
They learned the boy was home with his mother, father, a 4-year-old sibling and his grandparents.
The children were left on the rear screened porch to play while the parents and grandparents were inside the home periodically checking on the children. At some point the boy pushed his way through the screened enclosure and fell into the pool.
“The screen did not have a kick-plate and it looks as if the spline was not secured enough,” said Detective Nicole Carrofino.
“The boy was in the water for less than five minutes when his dad pulled him out.”
While the Department of Children and Family Services has been notified per protocol, the preliminary investigation has determined the incident was most likely accidental and not the result of criminal neglect.
