SOUTH BRUNSWICK — Chief Raymond Hayducka is crediting two South Brunswick police officers and a bystander with taking quick actions to save a 3-year-old child from drowning over the weekend.
Around 6:45 p.m. June 18, Officer George Morgan and Officer Jared Harpster were dispatched to a Route 1 residence near Whispering Woods Boulevard for a child who drowned in an in-ground pool, according to a statement prepared by the South Brunswick Police Department. When the officers arrived, they reportedly found a crowd of people in the backyard with one bystander performing CPR, police said.
Both officers continued rescue efforts and the child began to breathe again, according to reports. Paramedics and members of the Monmouth Junction First Aid Squad arrived and transported the child to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick.
Officers learned that the 3-year-old victim, who lives in East Brunswick, was at the party with his father, according to officials. At some point, the child was in the pool holding onto a raft and reportedly lost his grip, police said. He fell to the bottom of the pool. Witnesses say he was taken out of the pool within minutes, but described him as being blue and not breathing, according to the statement. One of the people at the party knew CPR and started efforts to revive the child.
Hospital officials listed the child in fair condition as of press time.
“The bystander’s quick efforts to revive the child and the officers’ rapid response and intervention saved this child’s life,” Hayducka said.
Police remind residents to take extra caution when hosting a party where young children can get access to the pool. Children should wear flotation devices, and the pool needs to be monitored at all times.
“This Father’s Day could have been tragic if not for the efforts of Officer Morgan, Officer Harpster and the bystander,” Hayducka said.