Girl revived after being found unconscious and not breathing in local hotel pool

Posted: Saturday, June 4, 2011 1:37 am
By Michael Farnworth For the Journal | 3 comments
POCATELLO — Quick thinking and a good memory helped a poolside bystander save the life of an 8-year-old girl after her father found her face down in the pool at the Red Lion Hotel Friday evening.

The 911 call came in just after 9 p.m. that the unidentified girl was found unconscious and not breathing. However, when paramedics arrived, the bystander, who identified herself only as Karen, managed to use CPR to resuscitate the girl with the help of Red Lion accounting employee Heidi Steele, who is also a part-time certified nursing assistant.

Karen is in town to attend her son’s basketball tournament today, and just happened to be by the pool when the girl’s father started screaming for help and jumped into the pool. After pulling his daughter to the side of the pool Karen helped to pull her out and immediately began CPR.

“I was amazed that I could even remember how to do it,” Karen said. “It’s been 14 years since I had any training in CPR.”

Steele came to the pool shortly after Karen had begun CPR, and as Karen worked to revive the girl, Heidi, who works part time for Need-A-Nurse Medical Staffing in Pocatello, coached her to keep going even after the girl began to cough.

“You have to keep going to try to clear out the airway completely,” Steele said.

“It felt good to be able to help,” Karen said. “I’m just glad that that little girl is still with us.”

“The paramedics are so very thankful for the bystander’s CPR,” Pocatello Fire Department Battalion Chief Tom Sanford said. “It definitely made a difference in this case.”

When the girl was placed in the ambulance just after 9:20 p.m., she was groggy but in stable condition. The name of the girl and her parents were not released.

The girl was transported to Portneuf Medical Center. Her condition was not immediately known.