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LEBANON, ME - The Lebanon Rescue Department responded to a report of a 2-year-old male child who had been located unresponsive in the water next to his house on Friday, December 4, 2009. The accident was dispatched to the rescue crews at 11:34 a.m. The incident occurred on Upper Middle Road in Lebanon.

When emergency crews arrived, the 2-year-old had been taken out of the water by his mom and CPR was being started.

The child had accidentally fallen into the river next to the house, which is the Little River.

“Lebanon Rescue was at the scene of a traffic accident with three minor injuries when this call came in. Lebanon Rescue 1 cleared the scene at the paramedic level and responded to the call, arriving within 4.5 minutes of the tone.” Lebanon Rescue Assistant Chief Jason Cole added.

Trooper Benjamin Smith of the Maine State Police was the first emergency unit on scene. Trooper Smith and a bystander started CPR on the child who was not breathing and had no pulse.

Lebanon Fire also responded two firefighters to the scene to assist the rescue. They assisted with CPR at the scene and arrived quickly to assist.

“Fortunately the trooper was going to another call in Lebanon when this call came in and he got there quickly and started CPR. The other thing that played a huge role in this call was the child was at the hospital within seventeen minutes of us getting toned, which is incredible. The child regained a pulse and respirations while in the ambulance enroute to Goodall Hospital.” Assistant Chief Jason Cole added.

“This is one of those calls that you always dread getting. The members on the ambulance that responded have children the same age. The positive thing was that CPR was started quickly and the childs vital signs improved enroute to the hospital.” Assistant Chief Jason Cole added. “ The emergency crews did an outstanding job and now we can just pray for a good outcome. These calls are very rough on the volunteers.”

This was the eleventh patient that Lebanon Rescue had treated since 3:00 a.m. that day.

“This is the second time in a few years that a child has been pulled from the water in Lebanon and CPR initiated. The first one was on Upper Guinea Road and was a toddler who fell into a pool. That child was revived and made a full recovery. Now we can only pray this child makes the same recovery.” Assistant Chief Jason Cole added.

The Maine State Police is investigating the incident, which appeared to be an accident.

The patient was transported by Lebanon Rescue 1 to Goodall Hospital in Sanford. The patient was then transferred by Life Flight Helicopter to Maine Medical Center in Portland.

“I cannot commend the volunteers enough who worked so hard on this call. Rescue Chief Samantha Cole, Driver CJ Deshaies, Lieutenant Kevin Romano, Fire Chief Skip Wood and Firefighter Bill Stacewicz all arrived quickly and did everything possibly they could to help this child. Their actions will hopefully result in a very positive outcome.” Assistant Rescue Chief and Lebanon Selectman Jason Cole added. “We are so fortunate to have outstanding volunteers who do so much for the community.”

The child’s condition is not known at this time. He is currently admitted at Maine Medical Center in Portland.