Saanich Police are reminding people to remain vigilant with their children whenever playing near local beaches or pools, after attending a call of a child found unresponsive in a backyard pool today.
A 5-year-old boy was pulled from a backyard pool unresponsive on Lochside Drive near Mount Doug Park in Saanich shortly after 3:00pm. An off-duty Victoria firefighter who was visiting the home at the time, performed first-aid on the young victim.
After a short period, the boy became semi-conscious and was attended to by Advanced Life Support from the BC Ambulance Service and rushed to hospital.
According to Saanich Police, it appears the child was attending the home as a guest, and was in the backyard pool with others. After going down the slide into the pool, the young boy did not re-surface. Fortunately, the area was being closely monitored by adults and a mother jumped into the pool bringing the boy to the surface. He was immediately attended to by the Victoria firefighter.
The boy was under water for a very short period of time which may have been instrumental in his recovery. Police are crediting good parental supervision, and quick actions of those in attendance for averting a tragedy.
