Lifeguard, paramedics save swimmer who went into cardiac arrest at Vernon Township pool

  • A swimmer at Vernon Township's Peterson Park pool, shown here in a 2020 file photo, went into cardiac arrest Tuesday afternoon but was rescued by lifeguards and emergency first responders.

      A swimmer at Vernon Township's Peterson Park pool, shown here in a 2020 file photo, went into cardiac arrest Tuesday afternoon but was rescued by lifeguards and emergency first responders. John Starks | Staff Photographer, 2020

 
Doug T. Graham
 
 
Updated 6/17/2022 12:39 PM

A fast-acting lifeguard and the quick response of paramedics saved a swimmer from drowning at the public pool at William E. Peterson Park in Vernon Township this week, fire officials said.

Keith Halfman of the Lincolnshire-Riverwoods Fire Protection District said according to reports from the pool, a swimmer went into cardiac arrest and began drowning just before 5:14 p.m. Tuesday.

 

One or more lifeguards got the person out of the pool and began CPR, Halfman said.

Soon after, Lincolnshire-Riverwoods Fire Protection District paramedics arrived and began advanced life support measures, reviving the person, he said. Emergency crews then took the person, who was well enough to talk, to a hospital.

Halfman said because of the lifeguard's quick actions, the immediate use of CPR, and the advanced life support measures by emergency personnel, the patient's prognosis looks positive.

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