Within Less Than a Month: Three Child Drowning Cases at the Same Hospital

A 3.5-year-old toddler drowned in a pool at a kibbutz in the Jezreel Valley, was pulled out without a pulse or breathing, and was saved thanks to CPR performed by a lifeguard and his father, a paramedic. This is the third child drowning case at Emek Medical Center in less than a month. The child was discharged home after several days in intensive care.

A 3.5-year-old toddler from Afula drowned this week (Sunday) in a pool at a kibbutz in the Jezreel Valley, after managing to return to the water on his own shortly after getting out with his family. He was pulled from the pool without a pulse and without breathing, but was saved thanks to immediate CPR performed by the lifeguard and his father, a former MDA paramedic. The child was evacuated in serious condition to Emek Medical Center, hospitalized in the pediatric intensive care unit, and after several days was discharged home out of danger. This is the third child drowning case treated at Emek Medical Center in less than a month, a statistic that worries the medical teams. Dr. Marianna Moltado, a senior physician in the pediatric emergency department, explains that the child's arrival conscious was made possible by the quick response of the lifeguard and father. The father shares: "He had no pulse, no breathing, white and pale... after about a minute and a half he started to come back." He calls on parents to be vigilant, avoid blue swimsuits that make it hard to spot a child in the water, and not remove floaties while the child is still near the pool.