A 2-year-old boy was airlifted to an Orlando hospital Tuesday after being found unresponsive in a pool, according to St. Cloud officials.
Read more The body of the last victim of Hurricane Helene in Tennessee has been found, 2 years later
The St. Cloud Fire Rescue Department responded around 7:45 p.m. that day to a home on Settler’s Creek Trail after the boy’s sibling found him in the home’s pool. The boy’s parents were at the home and placed a “frantic” 911 call, according to fire rescue spokesperson Andrew Sullivan.
The family estimated the boy might have been in the pool for up to 10 minutes before he was found. Sullivan said 911 operators gave the family instructions over the phone on how to perform CPR.
When paramedics arrived, they “realized the seriousness of the situation” and decided to have the boy airlifted to Orlando Health Children’s Arnold Palmer Hospital. He was still unresponsive when he was loaded into the helicopter, Sullivan said.
Read more Hurricanes, Nike reportedly sign one of largest sponsorship deals in college sports history
The agency did not have an update on the boy’s condition as of Wednesday evening, he said.
“This is a not a common occurrence for us. And so it’s really devastating to the community when it happens,” Sullivan added.
The city of St. Cloud recommends several swim safety tips to prevent children from drowning. Those include constant adult supervision, the placement of physical barriers and alarms around pools, swimming lessons for children and CPR lessons for adults.
Read more UF Q&A: Is Gators’ Jayden Woods ready to break out? Will UF be extra motivated vs. Auburn?