The Walnut City Council celebrated their efforts Wednesday night, presenting firefighters and paramedics from Station 61 involved in administering aid to the lifeless toddler with proclamations.
Mayor Mary Su thanked the squad for its fast actions and dedication to the city.
Mayor Pro Tem Tom King shared that Los Angeles County firefighters rescued him once, adding that they are “part of the Walnut family.”
“You saved a kid that was right on the cusp of almost passing away and I know that’s tough,” he said. “I, as a dad, can’t thank you enough.”
The rescue took place on Feb. 18 at Station 61 at La Puente Road and Lemon Avenue. At 11:38 a.m., the station had received a call about an infant in full cardiac arrest, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department website.
Just as Engine 61 began to drive out of the station, parents of the toddler drove into the parking lot holding their lifeless daughter. The baby, who had just learned to walk, had fallen into a child-sized swimming pool, according to the fire department. When her parents found her, she had no pulse and was not breathing.
While firefighter paramedics Gary Durian, Cameron Bothwell, and David Roberts administered CPR and other measures to revive the child, Capt. Gil Sanchez spoke to dispatch to make sure the ambulance and Sheriff’s Department came to the station instead of the family’s home.
Fred Sandoval, a firefighter specialist, worked to calm the parents and get the full story of how she drowned, according to fire officials.
The father was babysitting the toddler and two other children when the drowning occurred. The dad had focused on the other two children for a brief moment when the little girl wandered out the back door and fell into the pool, according to the fire department. The family didn’t realize what happened until the mother returned home, officials said.
Soon after the parents brought the child to the station, the department’s paramedics were able to get a pulse and when the ambulance arrived, Durian, Bothwell, and Roberts climbed in with her to keep her alive while she was taken to the Pomona Valley Medical Center.
"It may have only been a few moments reviving her, but it seemed like an eternity," Sanchez said in a story on the fire department’s website. "When our paramedics finally got that pulse they all loaded in the back of the ambulance to make sure they had as many capable hands as possible to keep her going."
By the time they arrived at the hospital, the little girl was breathing again.
"It was a very heart-wrenching experience for our personnel," Sanchez said. "We all have children so situations like this hit close to home. Though it felt like pandemonium at the station, especially with the devastated parents there begging us to save their daughter, our guys both professionally and mentally did the best job they could. But it was emotionally very draining."
The little girl subsequently was transferred to Loma Linda University Hospital, where she had CT scans that showed normal brain activity. Sanchez said that hearing that the toddler was breathing on her own and that doctors were optimistic that she would have a normal life “brightened up our week.”
At the council meeting, Assistant Chief Dave Stone fought back tears as he lauded the efforts of the squad and recalled the station receiving a poster from a very grateful family.
“As firefighters, it is very rare that we the success of our work,” Stone said. “It really makes me emotional.”
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