Three Nurses Help Revive Toddler Who Fell in Pond

Quick work by three off-duty nurses Saturday is being credited with helping to save the life of a 19-month-old boy who slid into a murky pond at Mile Square Park and nearly drowned.

The toddler, whose name was not released by authorities, was in critical condition after he was pulled from the pond about 4 p.m. near a children’s play area along Edinger Avenue.

Three veteran nurses from Fountain Valley Regional Hospital and Medical Center, who were at the park with their children, rushed to help just seconds after the child was discovered in the shadowy depths.

The women applied cardiopulmonary resuscitation for more than 15 minutes until paramedics arrived and took the boy to the nearby Fountain Valley hospital.

“Thank God, there were those nurses,” said Michael Hardina, 38, who was at the park his daughter and helped in the rescue. “People were estimating that infant was in the water for three or four minutes.”

Martha Bieser, Carol Beutler and Maureen Martin were attending a fifth-birthday party for Martin’s son, Scottie, when the incident unfolded.

Witnesses said the toddler was at the park with his aunt and apparently strayed for a few moments. Just minutes later, Scottie Martin and another child, Kelly Gembrini, 7, saw the boy floating in the pond and screamed, according to Bieser, a nurse at Fountain Valley for more than 12 years.

“When the kids started screaming, we ran to the pond and saw this baby on the ground,” Bieser said. “The child wasn’t breathing, so we started CPR.”

Hardina said he also rushed to the pond to find the baby boy soaked, his skin cold and turning blue from lack of oxygen. The nurses took turns working on the child as other adults rushed to alert park employees.

Bieser said she and the others checked for a pulse, but the infant’s heartbeat never grew very strong, and they continued their lifesaving efforts.

“You just do what you have to do. The only thing we were concerned about was doing the CPR on that baby,” she said. “It’s harder when you’re out on a field. You don’t have all that technology and equipment available to you. It’s just you and the baby.”

When paramedics arrived, the nurses turned over the job and returned to their children.