Investigations launched as child saved from pool

Date Published: 18-Apr-2011

BY CIARAN TIERNEY

A number of investigations are underway into an incident in which an unconscious four year old boy was taken from the main pool at Leisureland and had to be revived by lifeguards using cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on Sunday afternoon.

Staff at the Salthill facility have been praised for their professional and quick-thinking response after the child, who is from the east side of the city, was spotted lying in the water at about 2.30pm.

Members of staff performed CPR on the young boy on the platform between the two main swimming pools and managed to revive him before an ambulance arrived to whisk him to University College Hospital (UHG).

The boy was still in the Intensive Care Unit at UHG last evening, while Gardaí and the City Council (who own Leisureland) were undertaking separate investigations into how the accident occurred.

“The lifeguards managed to resuscitate him and the boy had resumed breathing on his own before the ambulance arrived,” said a spokesperson for Galway City Council. “It was an awful experience for everyone at the scene and our thoughts are with the child and his parents.”

There were 10 lifeguards on duty at Leisureland on Sunday afternoon, two of whom are water safety instructors, and their response at the scene may have saved the life of the youngster.

“By all accounts, the lifeguards did a brilliant job,” added the spokesman. “You have procedures in place but incidents like this don’t happen very often.”

Read more in today’s Connacht Sentinel