Shortly after 3:00pm today, Saanich Police, Saanich Fire, and EHS responded to a report of an unresponsive 5 year-old boy that had been pulled from a backyard pool in the 4300 block of Lochside Drive in Saanich.
Upon arrival, first responders observed an off-duty Victoria Firefighter performing first-aid on the young victim.
After a short period, the victim became semi-conscious and was attended to by Advanced Life Support from the BC Ambulance Service and rushed to hospital.
Although early in the investigation, it appears the victim 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 pool 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 who was also a guest at the home.
As we enter into the warmer months of summer, we remind people to remain vigilant with their children whenever playing near the local beaches or pools. In this instance, good parental supervision, and quick actions of those in attendance may have averted a tragedy. The boy was under the water for a very short period of time which may be instrumental in his recovery.
We are unsure on the present condition of the victim who was rushed to hospital, but believe he is conscious and hoping for a full recovery.
File No. 16-16270
S/Sgt Horsley