Fall in Hot Tub Leaves 1-Year-Old ‘Critical’ : Near-drowning: The girl is on life-support systems after she stopped breathing for four to 10 minutes.

A 1-year-old girl found nearly drowned in a home hot tub was listed in “extremely critical” condition Saturday with slightly improving chances of survival.

Kazarina Havriluk of Corona del Mar apparently had stopped breathing for four to 10 minutes and had received electric shock to restore her heartbeat, said Dr. David Hicks, a critical-care physician at Childrens Hospital of Orange County.

He said Saturday that life-support equipment is helping the baby stay alive, and that her lungs and blood pressure are improving.

“The family is doing as well as can be expected,” Hicks said. “They’re still hopeful, as we are, but they understand the gravity of the situation. The chances of severe neurological injury are still very high.”

Newport Beach police said the girl had wandered outside her home on Point Loma Drive in Corona del Mar on Friday evening. Kazarina’s three sisters, her mother, Sharon Havriluk, and a housekeeper were at home.

The child was discovered in the back-yard hot tub within “minutes,” and paramedics were called at 6:25 p.m., police said.

Hicks said sometimes the shock of falling into water can immediately stop a child’s breathing. Sometimes water touching a child’s vocal chords prompts spasms that can also stop breathing, he said.

The result is a reduction of oxygen in the blood, which can begin injuring the brain within a few minutes.

Even with paramedics working to restore breathing and heartbeat, “we don’t know when they are successful,” King said. He said Kazarina was without ample blood oxygen for at least four minutes, perhaps as long as 10 minutes. Under such circumstances, the chances of total recovery are “small,” Hicks said.

“Unfortunately, this is all too common,” Hicks said. “It takes constant, constant vigilance when children are around water to prevent this. Children just look at the water, then the next minute they’re dead or near-dead.”

County officials say an average of 17 children under age 9 have drowned each year in Orange County since 1978. Childrens Hospital handles as many as 45 near-drownings a year, according to Dr. Ralph W. Rucker, director of pulmonary services.

Only a week ago, 5-year-old Randi Newkirk fell into her grandmother’s back-yard pool in Fullerton and later died. Her 3-year-old sister Robyn was pulled from the pool in time to save her life.