Child Critically Injured After Near-Drowning In Pool Near Richmond

By Sam Borcia, Lake & McHenry County Scanner

Authorities say a young child is in critical condition after bystanders rescued the drowning child from a pool and performed CPR on them in Richmond.

The Richmond Township Fire Protection District and McHenry County Sheriff’s Office responded around 7:40 p.m. Saturday to the 10000 block of Keystone Road in unincorporated Richmond for a report of a drowning.

Richmond Township Fire Protection District Fire Marshal Scott Peterson said crews arrived to find a pediatric patient who was out of the water. The child was unresponsive and bystanders were performing CPR.

According to fire department radio traffic, the child is approximately four years old.

One of Mercyhealth’s emergency field vehicles — called MD-1 — was called to the scene to help treat the victim.

MD-1 vehicles are staffed by residency-trained emergency medicine physicians and they can help paramedics stabilize a patient before they are transported to the hospital from a scene.

The resuscitative efforts at the scene by bystanders and paramedics were successful, Peterson said.

Paramedics transported the child with MD-1 on board to Northwestern Medicine Hospital in McHenry.

Peterson said the child was later transported by a medical helicopter to a children’s hospital. The child remains in critical condition.

The McHenry County Sheriff’s Office and Richmond Police Department assisted at the scene.

Further details were not available and the incident remains under investigation by the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office.

Lake and McHenry County Scanner is a local breaking news website covering issues that matter such as shootings, stabbings, house fires, kidnappings, car accidents, and more around Lake County and McHenry County.