Woburn Lifeguard Helps Save 5-Year-Old Child

Thanks to some quick actions from a Woburn lifeguard and his co-worker what could have turned out to be a tragedy was avoided at a public pool in Lowell on the Fourth of July. 

According to a story on the Boston Herald, on the fourth a five-year-old boy went under the water while swimming near the ropes at the Raymond Lord Memorial Swimming Pool in Lowell. The child was spotted by Joe Ford, 19, of Woburn, a University of Massachusetts Lowell criminal justice major who has spent three summers lifeguarding. 

Ford told the Herald he spotted the boy struggling near one of the ropes while playing in the pool. The boy didn't cry for help but Ford noticed he seemed to be floundering. When the boy went under, Ford jumped into action. 

Ford said he blew his whistle and jumped into the pool to pull the boy out of the three-feet shallow end of the pool. When he emerged with the boy, a Lowell resident, he handed him off to fellow lifeguard Noelia Aquino, 19, of Lowell. Aquino, assisted by an off-duty nurse who was at the pool, began performing CPR. The boy was unconscious and wasn't breathing and had no pulse. After Aquino administered CPR he began vomiting. Aquino performed 30 chest compressions and the nurse administered two rescue breaths. 

The boy was still having difficulty breathing when paramedics arrived and transported him to Lowell General Hospital. 

Read the full story at: http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2013/07/pair_save_life_of_boy_5_at_lowell_pool#s...