Honors Station 14 unit for saving 3-year-old
With this hot weather comes the need for cool relief.
That sends many people to swimming pools which, for those who can’t swim or swim well, can produce a challenge that can lead to serious problems — including death.
According to the Kissimmee Fire Department, its units have responded to eight drowning calls since March, including a recent one where siblings nearly drowned in a pool at Give Kids the World Village.
Those like Emergency Medical Services Chief Eric Gentry say that prevention is the key to keeping those calls to a minimum — and one is too many.
“Putting the floaties on the kids to keep their heads above water, and swim lessons, anything parents can do,” Gentry said. “The earlier the better. I’ve known of oneyear- olds who are in the water getting taught to flip over and float.
“And then there’s the watching them. It doesn’t take but a second to take attention off a child around water.”
The department last week gave a commendation to a group of dispatchers and the rescue unit from Station 13 on Hoagland Boulevard, for their role in saving a three-year-old girl from a drowning situation on April 29 at the nearby Bella Cita complex.
“We’re here to celebrate life,” KFD Deputy Joe Leone said. “Drowning has become an epidemic in Osceola County, and we’ll take all opportunities to tout water safety, CPR and calling 911.”
That call involved dispatchers Megan Cruz, Margareth Henao Pramwatti Singh and Erika Dimeo, the first responder crew of medic Tyler Reiss, Preston Archie, engineer Michael Taylor, air medic Steven Hansley and the team and Arnold Palmer Hospital in Orlando. It was KFD’s first near-drowning call of the year; the youngster was underwater for a matter of minutes, before a 10-yearold brother dove into the pool to get the girl out of the water.
Dispatch sent the Station 13 crew, who found the girl unresponsive but breathing. They provided lifesaving measures while transferring her to the air medi-vac, who flew her to Arnold Palmer, who donated challenge coins to those who were involved.
The girl is “doing well” now, Gentry said.
“They worked as a team,” Leone said. “Today we honor that team. This team won’t have to wonder if they made a difference.”
