Infant Fighting for Life After Falling in Pool

A baby about to celebrate his first birthday party was fighting for his life Saturday night after he wandered away from his family and plunged into a pool, police and fire officials said.

The baby, Evan Vuong, had no pulse and was not breathing when Garden Grove police officers and paramedics arrived at the family’s Jefferson Avenue home at 3:35 p.m., said Garden Grove Fire Department paramedic Rick Hibbard. The rescue workers succeeded in reviving the boy and rushed him to Humana Hospital-Westminster.

The child was later transferred to the intensive care unit at Childrens Hospital of Orange County in Orange, where he was on a respirator and reported in critical condition.

Evan’s aunt, Hanh Vuong, said that family members, who are devout Buddhists, had finished traditional birthday prayers for the boy and settled down to watch television prior to a planned 6 p.m. birthday party.

The aunt said Evan was floating face down in the pool when the boy’s parents, Ghuy Vo and Vinh Vuong, pulled him out. She immediately rushed into the house and dialed 911.

Garden Grove Police Sgt. Dale Farley said Officers Larry Buchanan and Elias Vazquez arrived at the home moments later and began cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Fire Capt. Tony Gutilla, along with paramedics Hibbard, Richard Rounds and Jack Herrera, arrived about a minute later and took over the frantic rescue effort.

“We got on the scene and continued CPR and provided advanced life support,” Hibbard said. “En route to the hospital, we defibrillated him and brought a pulse back to the infant. . . . Our hope is he’ll have a full recovery.”

Vuong said the boy’s parents called Saturday evening to report that Evan was comatose and was undergoing a battery of tests to determine if he suffered brain damage.

There have been three drownings in pools or spas in Orange County so far this year.