Teen Remains Hospitalized After Peninsula Near-Drowning: MP Fire

MENLO PARK, CA — Illustrating a threat that seems to occur every summer, an unresponsive teenager was rushed to the hospital Friday night on a report of a drowning incident, the Menlo Park Fire Protection District reported.

The San Mateo County Public Safety Communications Center received a 4:42 p.m. call of a possible drowning at Burgess Pool located at 501 Laurel St.

Menlo Park Fire crews arrived on the scene in five minutes and found a 13-year-old female, who was pulseless and not breathing, being administered cardio pulmonary resuscitation by bystanders. One was an off-duty fire captain and paramedic with the fire district whose child was also involved with the swim meet at the facility.

Bystanders told fire crews the girl had just completed a race when she "seemed to" collapse and sank to the bottom of the pool. Off duty Fire Captain/Paramedic Eric McGlennon and others noticed the girl slip below the water's surface, and they immediately dove into the pool and brought her to the surface to start CPR.

Fire paramedics took over CPR and used Advanced Life Support techniques, including defibrillation. The patient was then loaded into an ambulance and rushed to Stanford Medical's Trauma Center.

Menlo Park Fire Chief Harold Schapelhouman attributes the girl's "chance of survival" to the quick and thorough response from paramedics.

Schapelhouman told Patch Monday morning that he last heard the teen's condition had improved, but "she's not out of the woods yet."

No further information was available.

This is the second drowning incident that Menlo Park firefighters have responded to in the last month. A previous incident involving an unattended small child occurred in Atherton.