North Rocks pool leaves boy serious
7th near-drowning CareFlight response this week …
A boy is in a serious condition after he was rescued from a backyard pool at North Rocks, in Sydney’s north-west, today.
Emergency services rushed to the Peterson Place home following a “000” alert just after 11 am.
CareFlight landed minutes later in a car park at North Rocks primary school, adjacent to the home, to allow the crew doctor to team with ambulance paramedics arriving to treat the boy.
The CareFlight doctor said the nine-year-old boy was missing for only a very short time when he was found in the pool by his parents who started treatment.
Because he had difficulty breathing the doctor placed the boy in an induced coma supported by a ventilator.
After the initial stabilisation the boy was taken, under continuing treatment by the CareFlight doctor, in a road ambulance to the Westmead Children’s Hospital.
His mother accompanied her son on the ride and the boy remained in a serious condition on arrival at the hospital.
Today’s response brought to seven the tally of near-drownings attended by a CareFlight trauma team in Sydney this week.
At Dural, in Sydney’s north-west yesterday afternoon (Eds: Sat 7 Jan) a young girl escaped drowning in a backyard pool on a rural property.
The helicopter landed beside the pool on the property to allow the CareFlight doctor to take over from the mother who was treating her daughter.
The CareFlight doctor said her mother found the three-year-old floundering just below the surface of the pool and immediately rescued her.
Although the girl was still lethargic when flying trauma team arrived, the girl quickly became alert and was soon breathing normally.
As a precaution the girl, accompanied also by her mother, was taken by road ambulance to the Westmead Children’s Hospital for observation.
On Thursday (Eds: 5 Jan) at Glenhaven, a five-year-old girl fell in while playing beside the pool and was underwater for less than a minute when her parents rescued her in Sydney’s north-west.
The girl was unresponsive when the CareFlight team started treatment but was quickly revived and started breathing by herself.
As a precaution the girl was taken under continuing treatment by the doctor, in a road ambulance, to the Westmead Children’s Hospital for observation where she was in a stable condition on arrival.
Also on Thursday at Camden, quick action by pool staff prevented a four-year-old boy from becoming another drowning statistic in Sydney’s south west.
Ambulance, police and CareFlight rushed to the Camden swimming pool in Oxley Street shortly before 10.30 am to support pool lifeguards treating the child.
The CareFlight doctor praised the quick response by pool staff who were alerted by the boy’s mother when spotted her son lying on the bottom of the pool during a family outing with friends.
Staff jumped in and retrieved the boy who was unconscious and not breathing.
Staff told the CareFlight doctor how, after applying a few breaths of air, the boy started coughing up large amounts of water and his breathing resumed.
The CareFlight doctor said the four-year-old boy, from Camden, had a lucky escape thanks to the quick action of well-trained pool staff.
As a precaution, because he had swallowed a quantity of water, the boy was flown by CareFlight to the Westmead Children’s Hospital for observation.
At Chipping Norton Lakes last night, (Eds; Wed 4 Jan) two teenagers escaped drowning as they sought to escape Sydney’s summer heat in Sydney’s south-west.
The first, a 16-year-old, got into difficulties after he tried to swim 50 metres to the shore from a small rowing boat he was using on the lake close to where friends were holding an impromptu party.
His 18-year-old friend then tried to swim out before he, too, got into difficulty in the deep water.
Five police from the local Liverpool Local Area Command raced to the scene at the eastern side of the lakes shortly after 7 pm and quickly rescued the pair.
On Monday (Eds; Mon 2 Jan) at Galston, in Sydney’s north, family members pulled a three-year-old boy unconscious from a backyard pool and immediately applied CPR as ambulance paramedics, police and CareFlight rushed to the property.
The boy was further stabilised by the CareFlight doctor and paramedics before he was flown to hospital in a critical condition.
Several days of treatment at the Westmead Children’s Hospital, following the initial treatment by family, paramedics and CareFlight, allowed the boy to make a full recovery.
For further information contact CareFlight director Ian Badham on 9687 1111.
CareFlight: the next life we save could be yours.