Officer’s CPR May Have Kept Child Alive : Pool tragedy: Quick action by policeman revives girl. The 2-year-old’s vital signs remain unstable, however.

As soon as Police Officer Robert Trotter arrived at the residence where a 2-year-old girl had been found face down in her baby-sitter’s back-yard pool, the clock in his head began ticking.

“I saw the baby lying in the living room. It had no pulse and was not breathing,” Trotter said. “I immediately called for emergency backup and began CPR.”

The baby-sitter, who has not been identified, and her three children had pulled little Elizabeth Osbahr out of the deep end of the pool at the home on Marquette Street, police said. It was not clear how the baby had fallen in the pool, but police are calling it accidental.

The toddler remained unconscious and in critical condition at Children’s Hospital of Orange County Friday afternoon, according to spokeswoman Corrine Alkofer.

By the time Trotter had begun cardiopulmonary resuscitation, the girl had not been breathing for up to 10 minutes, police believe. The baby-sitter had kneeled over Elizabeth while getting instructions by phone from city fire dispatchers, but to no avail. Trotter said the girl was limp and lifeless.

“The kids were screaming on my left, ‘Please, man, make the baby breathe!’ and the baby-sitter was screaming on my right, ‘Save the baby! I’m just the baby-sitter!’ ” Trotter said.

After administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation for three to five minutes, Trotter determined that emergency backup medics would not arrive in time.

“The closest (medical team) would have been there (after five minutes), so I figured they were busy on a call. When the second-closest was not there, I thought they must have been out on a call, too,” he said.

Detective Sam Miller arrived and said he had not seen any medical teams en route. “At that point I made the determination to transport the baby (to the hospital) myself,” Trotter said.

As Miller drove to Humana Hospital-Westminster, Trotter continued CPR until they intercepted a medical team from the Fire Department.

“The baby never turned blue, so I knew that I was (oxygenating) the blood,” he said. “I handed the baby to the medics. They asked me to continue CPR and assist on the way to the hospital.”

Trotter said he had performed about 12 minutes of CPR before arriving at the hospital. “But it seemed like forever.”

After handing the baby over to doctors, Trotter stayed with the victim’s mother for much of the afternoon.

“She was upset and hysterical, so I stayed with her for about two and a half hours,” he said. He sat with her and the child’s father as they monitored their daughter’s condition. “I just tried to comfort them.”

Elizabeth was transferred to CHOC Thursday. A hospital spokesperson said Friday the child’s vital signs were unstable.

“It can take days to make a determination,” Alkofer said. “Brain injuries are so hard to predict.”