Lifeguard revives boy at Scarborough pond

By Dennis Hoey
Staff Writer

SCARBOROUGH — A lifeguard used cardiopulmonary resuscitation Thursday to revive a 7-year-old boy from Cape Elizabeth who was pulled from the pond at the Wassamki Springs Campground.

The boy, whose name was not released by authorities, was listed in serious condition late Thursday night at Maine Medical Center in Portland.

Scarborough Police Chief Robert Moulton said the boy was swimming with a group of day campers from Cape Elizabeth at Wassamki Springs on Saco Street, which has a large swimming pond.

Around 1:15 p.m., police and fire and rescue teams from Scarborough and neighboring Gorham went to the campground in response to a report that a child had drowned in the pond.

A statement issued by Scarborough police late Thursday said witnesses pulled the boy from the pond. Moulton said a lifeguard gave the boy CPR and revived him. The boy was taken by ambulance to Maine Medical Center.

Scarborough police would not identify the lifeguard. The hospital told Scarborough police Thursday night that the boy was being treated in its intensive care unit. He was listed in serious condition.

“He is not out of the woods yet,” Moulton said.

Moulton said the boy was part of group of day campers from Cape Elizabeth Community Services.

Russell Packett, the incoming director of Community Services – he will start officially at the end of this month – was informed about the incident.

“It was a Cape Elizabeth Community Services field trip,” he confirmed Thursday night. “We brought our own lifeguards.”

Packett said five lifeguards accompanied campers on the field trip to Wassamki Springs. He said most of those lifeguards work at the town’s pool. He did not know how many campers went on the trip.

Packett said he thought it was the head lifeguard who gave the boy CPR. He did not have her name.

Tweet

Further Discussion

Here at PressHerald.com we value our readers and are committed to growing our community by encouraging you to add to the discussion. To ensure conscientious dialogue we have implemented a strict no-bullying policy. To participate, you must follow our Terms of Use.

Questions about the article? Add them below and we’ll try to answer them or do a follow-up post as soon as we can. Technical problems? Email them to us with an exact description of the problem. Make sure to include:

• Type of computer or mobile device your are using
• Exact operating system and browser you are viewing the site on (TIP: You can easily determine your operating system here.)




Back to News