Canada Toddler Who Had No Pulse For Three Hours Was Saved By Team Effort Of Medics

Medical personnel took turns for three hours to perform CPR on the 20-month-old boy.

New Delhi: A 20-month-old boy named Waylon Saunders was found face-down in an icy backyard swimming pool at a home daycare in Petrolia, Ontario in Canada, on January 24. He was cold and lifeless when firefighters brought him to Charlotte Eleanor Englehart Hospital in Petrolia. The toddler seemed to have been in the pool for at least five minutes, reported CBC News. 

While this hospital lacks the resources and personnel of a significant children's hospital, the medical personnel were persistent in their efforts to save the child's life. Everyone, including lab workers and nurses, stopped what they were doing and started assisting with the task of resuscitating Waylon. For three hours, they took turns performing CPR on the child.

"They had a cycle of people providing CPR in Petrolia. They had people warming him with many different techniques," Dr Janice Tijssen, director of the pediatric critical care unit at Children's Hospital, London Health Sciences Centre was quoted by CBC News. 

The London Health Sciences Centre in a statement said that as soon as they heard Waylon was being brought to the hospital, everyone came forward to help. 

"It was truly a team effort: lab techs were holding portable heaters in the room at one point; EMS personnel also helped out by rotating through compressors and helping with managing his airway, and nurses were even running to microwave water to help with warming," Dr. Taylor said.

"And the whole time we had support on the line from the team in London," he added.

"He beat the odds. Everyone worked so well together, and the transition was seamless between different stages of his care journey," Dr. Tijssen said. "Everyone used their skills, and we truly worked as a team. We couldn't have hoped for a better outcome."

Waylon was released from the hospital on February 6 and is now recuperating at home. 

Meanwhile, the daycare was slapped with municipal bylaw infractions after problems were found with how the pool was covered. The 50-year-old operator was charged with criminal negligence causing bodily harm and will appear in a Sarnia court in March, according to CBC News.