Dixie Fire Paramedics Staying At Redding Hotel Rescue Boy From Drowning At Hotel's Pool

REDDING, Shasta County (CBS SF) -- A group of paramedics - including some from the Bay Area - assigned to the Dixie Fire jumped into action during an emergency right at their hotel they were staying at in Redding over the weekend.

According to a post on the Cal Fire/Butte County Facebook page Sunday, the first responders heard a woman screaming from the hotel's pool area, where they found a 10-year-old boy unresponsive and still partially in the pool.

"He had water in the lungs, he was not breathing and he had no pulse," said Oxnard Fire Department paramedic Brian Basso.

The paramedics began CPR on the boy and successfully revived him; the boy was able to sit up and cry following their life-saving efforts.

"Sigh of relief. Sigh of relief," Moraga-Orinda Fire Protection District paramedic Tom Schwedhelm said when he heard the boy cry. "It's funny, as paramedics, you know, when kids cry that's good. It means they have an airway."

An Oakland Fire Department paramedic said the young boy's close call at the hotel pool brought to mind his own children.

"I do have kids, I have four,"  said an emotional Jarred Neal. "So, you know, like, it's hard not to look at a kid and go, 'Hey, you know, it could be my kid."

"For us being in the right spot at the right time, we wouldn't have had that opportunity," continued Neal. "These are the ones you remember for 25, 30 years."