Children's Safety Zone

A 3-year-old boy was rushed to a Valley hospital after he was pulled from the bottom of a backyard pool in Chandler on Sunday.

Chandler Fire Department spokesman Tom Dwiggins said the boy was at a birthday party at a home near McQueen and Chandler Heights roads where there were many children and adults.

As the party was winding down at about 4:30 p.m., the boy was found at the bottom of the pool and pulled out, Dwiggins said.

He added that a 911 dispatcher gave CPR instructions until paramedics arrived and took over.

The child was transported to the hospital in extremely critical condition.

“What we didn’t have [at the party] was that eye-to-eye supervision, where somebody is always watching the kids in there,” Dwiggins said.

Dwiggins recommended adults take turns watching children in a pool at any party-type situation. He said adults could take 20-minute shifts, making sure to pay full attention to everyone in the pool and avoid distractions like texting.

A woman who answered the door at the home declined to elaborate on the situation.

She said the boy did not live at the home.

via Boy pulled from bottom of pool during birthday party – ABC15 Arizona.

Divers have recovered the body of a 30-year-old man from Lake Pleasant.

Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Chris Hegstrom said in a news release that their office received a call of a missing person just after 8 a.m. Sunday.

Hegstrom said Christopher James Starcovic was last seen around 3 a.m. on a 27-foot cabin cruiser boat which was anchored in Humbug Cove at the lake.

Hegstrom said the boat was anchored about 50 yards off shore and water depths are about 39 feet in the area.

There were three other adults, including one family member, onboard the boat where everyone had planned on spending the night.

Hegstrom said Starcovic did not know how to swim and preliminary information gathered indicates the victim was drinking on the boat.

The MCSO Lake Patrol Dive Team and the Phoenix Police Dive Team searched underwater in the area, finding the body just after 2 p.m.

Hegstrom said preliminary information indicates Starcovic was extremely intoxicated and fell into the water.

via MCSO: Intoxicated man drowned after falling into Lake Pleasant from boat – ABC15 Arizona.

The older brother of a teenager who died Saturday in Bartlett Lake said the lake had nearly killed his brother as a child.

Years ago, there was a “similar situation” to the incident that killed 17-year-old Pablo Salgado on Saturday, according to Salgado’s brother, Javier Salazar.

Salazar said his then-11-year-old brother was struggling in the water at Bartlett Lake, and he saved him.

“That’s why I wish I could have been there this time,” Salazar said, alluding to the fact that he did not attend the lake with his family.

Pablo was at Rattlesnake Cove for his baptism, and was swimming in advance of the ceremony Salazar said.

Pablo went underwater and didn’t resurface, according to Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Chris Hegstrom.

Authorities were alerted at 9:40 a.m.

An MCSO dive team found Pablo’s body at approximately 12:30 p.m., Hegstrom said.

Contrary to what witnesses told authorities on scene, Pablo was not a strong swimmer, Salazar said.

He said he wishes he would have had a chance to save his brother for a second time at Bartlett Lake.

“Maybe if I would have gone… things would have been different,” Salazar said.

via Body of teenager recovered from Bartlett Lake – ABC15 Arizona.

A Phoenix toddler has died after he was found by his parents in the family’s swimming pool and a 3-year-old girl slipped into a Jacuzzi before being rescued by adults at a West Phoenix apartment complex.

The Phoenix Fire Department responded to a call just after 11:30 a.m. Saturday of a drowning at a home near 75th Avenue and Camelback Road.

Capt. Jonathan Jacobs says firefighters administered CPR to a 1-year-old boy, who was not breathing.

Firefighters then took him to Phoenix Children’s Hospital, where he later died.

Authorities say both parents were home, and the pool had a fence.

Later in the afternoon, firefighters responded to another drowning call near 33rd Avenue and Peoria.

Jacobs said a 3-year-old girl was attending another child’s birthday party when adults moved eight to 10 children into the Jacuzzi area. The 3-year-old girl somehow slipped underwater and went unnoticed until adults pulled her out to administer CPR.

“We know that she was down there long enough that she was not breathing on her own and depending on the child that can be three seconds to three minutes for that to happen,” Jacobs said.

Firefighters said she was taken to a Valley hospital in critical condition, but she was reported to have a pulse and was breathing on her own.

These incidents come nearly two weeks after Phoenix firefighters treated a 19-month-old boy found floating in his family’s pool.

In that case, the toddler survived without significant injuries.

via Boy, 1, drowns in pool, 3-year-old rescued – CBS 5 – KPHO.

The body of an Oregon man has been recovered from the Colorado River in Grand Canyon National Park, authorities say.

The victim, 31-year-old Curtis Joyce of Portland, Oregon, was part of a private river trip of nine kayakers nearing the end of a 12 day river trip, according to a press release from the park’s public affairs office.

Joyce was discovered capsized and unresponsive in his kayak near the Lower Whitmore camp Tuesday evening.

Authorities say members of the group attempted CPR, but their attempts to resuscitate Joyce were unsuccessful.

Due to the time of day and approaching darkness, park rangers were not able to fly into the Grand Canyon until Wednesday morning to recover Joyce’s body.

There is an investigation into the incident by the National Park Service and Coconino County Medical Examiner.

No further information was available.

via Oregon man dies while kayaking on Colorado River in Grand Canyon National Park – ABC15 Arizona.