Watch firefighter save his one-year-old son from drowning and scoop him out of the pool seconds after he removed his flotation device and jumped in
- The Hemet Firefighters Association shared the video on social media
- The father who saved the child works for the Hemet fire brigade
A Southern California firefighter saved his one-year-old son from drowning in a swimming pool on Tuesday.
The Hemet Firefighters Association shared a video on social media asking parents to pay close attention to how quickly children can drown.
The boy, Cole, is too young to have learned to swim.
The 40-second video shows the boy walking along the edge of the pool after removing his flotation device.
He sits on the edge and then falls in, while his father quickly rushes to scoop him out.
The 40-second video shows the boy walking along the edge of the pool before sitting on the edge
After invading, his father quickly rushes to his aid and pulls him out of the water
Petite lays the boy on his back at the edge of the pool and he is visibly still conscious.
The association said the father is Zachary Petite, a firefighter and paramedic with the Hemet Fire Department and that Cole is his youngest son.
“This video is a sobering reminder that a child drowning can happen to anyone at any time in seconds,” the Hemet Firefighters Association said on Facebook.
‘Even though both parents have taken all necessary precautions, including a fence around the pool and suitable PFD [Personal Flotation Device]the boy still managed to get into the water.’
“Remember, children drown without sound, watch the video,” the association added.
Petite told local news outlet KTLA that his son was sinking to the bottom of the pool when he fell in.
The boy can be seen at the edge of the pool. A girl is swimming in the water
He removes a safety device and then walks to the edge of the pool
The boy in the video, Cole, is too young to have learned to swim. Within a second he entered the water
When father-of-three Petite lays his son on his back at the edge of the pool, he is still visibly conscious
The Hemet Firefighters Association shared a video on social media, accompanied by a message to parents
“I look around and I can’t find him and I finished [up] watching him sink to the bottom of the pool,’ Petite said.
“So then I went over there, got him out and got him out of the pool.”
“For parents out there, if you have a pool, make sure it has a gate, child lock and door alarm,” he added.
Hemet Fire Captain David Prietto said the father was doing everything right.
Zach was there. He was literally at your fingertips. He followed all the rules, he took all the right precautions, that’s really why his son lived,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Hemet Fire Department is using this incident to alert the community and emphasize the importance of pool safety.
“We can’t stress it enough, it happened to Engineer Petite and it could happen to anyone,” Hemet fire chief Eddie Sell said.
“Count seconds.”