Toddler Pulled From Hot Tub Is Resuscitated : Rescue: He and older brother slipped into back yard as baby-sitter cleaned in Dana Point home.

An 18-month-old boy nearly drowned in his family’s back-yard spa Tuesday after he and his older brother slipped out of their home while a baby-sitter was in another room, fire officials said.

The child was playing with his 4-year-old brother about 4 p.m. in the living room of a home in the 33400 block of Coral Reach Street while a teen-age baby-sitter was cleaning a nearby bathroom, Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Dan Young said.

When the baby-sitter checked on the boys, she noticed the sliding glass door was open. She ran out and found the toddler floating in the hot tub and the 4-year-old in the back yard.

The baby-sitter immediately pulled the younger child out of the spa and attempted to restore his breathing, Young said. The child eventually began coughing just before paramedics arrived.

“The baby was still pale when the paramedics arrived, but he seemed to have recovered OK,” Young said.

The child was taken to Samaritan Medical Center in San Clemente, where he remained under observation Tuesday night. Officials declined to provide the names of the children or the baby-sitter.

According to county records, five children have drowned this year in residential swimming pools in Orange County.

“The bottom line is you really cannot turn your back on children for a minute,” Young said. “There’s a tendency to open back doors during this weather to let the fresh air in. But you can’t let these kids out of your sight for a minute. Two to three minutes lost and a child is forever gone.”