Children's Safety Zone

Two toddlers were taken to the hospital Thursday evening after falling into their family’s backyard pool in separate incidents.

The first incident involved a 20-month-old girl submerged for about 10 seconds at a home in Tempe shortly after 7 p.m., according to a spokesman for the Tempe Fire Department. The parents quickly removed the child from the pool and called for help.

Emergency crews transported the toddler as a safety precaution to Banner Desert Medical Center for evaluation.

The second incident occurred about an hour later at a home in Scottsdale. A 1-year-old girl fell into a pool for about a minute before she was pulled out by her parents, according to Tiffani Nichols, spokeswoman for the Scottsdale Fire Department.

The Scottsdale toddler was responsive and crying when fire crews arrived a short time later. She was transported to the Scottsdale hospital on Shea Boulevard for evaluation.

Submerged toddlers in life-threatening condition are usually transported to Phoenix Children’s Hospital, Nichols said. Transportation to any other hospital, she added, is probably just a precautionary measure.

A Lake Havasu City toddler was airlifted to a Las Vegas hospital Saturday after he reportedly fell into a backyard pool and wasn’t breathing when found.

Emergency responders were called about 1:32 p.m. Saturday to render aid to Aiden Cooper, 3, at a residence in the 3500 block of Fiesta Drive, said Lake Havasu City Sgt. Joe Harrold.

Emergency responders en route to the residence were advised cardiopulmonary resuscitation was in progress on the child, said Rick Felish, Battalion Chief, Lake Havasu City Fire Department.

A nearby Lake Havasu City police officer also was dispatched to the scene to assist the fire department’s response to the call.

“The father of the 3-year-old was performing CPR when the officer arrived,” Harrold said. “And the child began breathing on his own just as the officer got to him.”

Harrold said it’s standard protocol for a Havasu police officer to respond to incidents involving individuals who aren’t breathing.

The child was transported to Havasu Regional Medical Center by River Medical ambulance service. The boy was soon transferred by Careflight medical helicopter to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center in Las Vegas, Felish said.

Lake Havasu City Fire Department responded with eight firefighters aboard Engine 4 and Engine 2. The Battalion Chief on-duty also responded, Felish said.

The child’s condition was unknown Sunday, police said.

You may contact the reporter at jhanson@havasunews.com.

ORO VALLEY – The Oro Valley community is mourning the death of a young child after the first drowning of the year.

A 3-year old boy was found in a neighbor’s swimming pool in the 11000 block of Old Ram Court. He was reported missing, Wednesday afternoon. During the search, an Oro Valley police officer found him at the bottom of the neighbor’s pool. The officer attempted CPR, but it was too late.

We spoke with one of the victim’s family members, but with tears in her eyes, she said she had nothing to say and rushed back inside her home.

The family isn’t the only ones affected by this; the entire neighborhood is still shaken by the tragic news.

Wayne Boyd lives in the neighborhood. He said, “Kids playing around here all the time. You see them all the time so it’s shocking. It really is.”

And the neighbors aren’t alone in that feeling. Even first responders were caught off guard.

Anne-Marie Braswell with Safe Kids Tucson Coalition and Rural Metro Fire said, “It’s just not anything that we were ready to even think about because the weather is still cool.”

Cool or not, it happened. Now it’s turned into a tragic reminder of the importance of pool safety and watching over your kids.

Braswell said, “It’s one of those things in Southern Arizona we need to think about year round. When January comes around we need to make our new years resolution to keep our children safe, be a designated water watcher and remember the A,B,C’s of water safety and to talk to all of our children.”

Something this neighborhood hopes to do better in the future, all while mourning the loss of one of its youngest residents.

Boyd said, “To hear that something like that happen here, it kind of hits home. It’s personal. To me it is anyway.”

The incident is still under investigation and police said they’re not ready to release the name or information about how the boy got into the neighbor’s back yard. They’re also not commenting on the possibility of criminal negligence charges being filed but we’ll keep you posted.

A 1-year-old boy was flown to a Valley hospital Tuesday after he was pulled from a Buckeye pool.

The child fell into a pool at a home on the 19000 block of West Virginia Avenue, said Sgt. Jesse Spurgin, a spokesman for the Maricopa County Sherriff’s Office.

He was pulled from the pool and CPR was initiated, he said.

When officers arrived shortly before noon, the boy was breathing and crying, Spurgin said.

The toddler was flown to Phoenix Children’s Hospital, Buckeye Fire Department Chief Bob Costello said.

His condition is unknown.

PHOENIX – A 5-year-old girl was airlifted to Phoenix Children’s Hospital Monday afternoon after she was found under water at her daycare.

Phoenix Fire Department crews were called out to Rancho Solano Private School near 56th Street and Greenway Road around 2:30 p.m.

Phoenix Fire Captain Scott Walker says the school is used as a daycare during the summer months and the children were participating in free swim when the little girl went under.

Several adults and a lifeguard were keeping watch over the 14 children swimming.

“I talked with the lifeguard, he’s been a lifeguard for about five years. It didn’t sound like he was distracted,” said Walker. “They are taught to scan the pool, he said he scanned one way and when he went back that’s when he saw the child.”

Walker said the lifeguard told him he believes the child may have been under water for about 15 to 30 seconds.

“Sometimes time does get away a little bit, it could’ve been a minute, we’re not really sure,” added Walker.

The little girl had no pulse and was not breathing when she arrived to the emergency room, but Walker said doctors were able to get her heart beating again.

“She’s in very critical condition and it doesn’t look good,” Walker said.