The Region : Heartbeat Restored to Shock Victim, 15

A 15-year-old Costa Mesa boy’s heartbeat was restored during emergency treatment after he suffered an electrical shock when he grabbed power lines while climbing a tree. The boy, Noel Meyers, was reported in critical condition at Costa Mesa Medical Center Hospital. Meyers had no heartbeat or blood pressure and was not breathing after he fell about 20 feet from the tree shortly before 8 p.m. at the rear of a residence at 826 Santiago Road, said Fire Department Acting Battalion Chief Ken Soltis. The youth had become entangled in the electrical wires while climbing the tree. Neighbors at the location attempted to revive the boy, as did Costa Mesa firefighters and paramedics when they arrived, Soltis said. Paramedics placed an airtube in the boy’s throat, however, allowing oxygen to reach his lungs, he said. Without the tube, Soltis said, the boy’s pulse might not have been restored later at the hospital.