Lifeguards revive 10-year-old girl pulled from water at 31st Street Beach
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Quick-thinking lifeguards and beachgoers were credited this Memorial Day with pulling a young girl from the water at 31st Street Beach and reviving her.
As CBS 2's Steven Graves reported, the 10-year-old girl was rushed to the University of Chicago's Comer Children's Hospital and is expected to recover. Witnesses say that is a miracle.
Lifeguards and beachgoers are now looking toward how to prevent such incidents with a whole summer season ahead of us.
Frantic, dramatic cell phone video shows the 10-year-old girl lying lifeless on the shore of the 31st Street Beach around 2:15 p.m.
"Her whole face was gray," said registered nurse Rachel Miller. "She was pretty much dead."
In the video, Miller is seen on her knees in a black tank top.
"Unresponsive," Miller said. "She wasn't breathing at all."
Miller said she helped with CPR, soon after someone spotted the girl face down in the water around. It was unclear how long the little girl was floating in the water.
"It was scary, yeah," Miller said.
Within minutes, Miller, another woman, and a lifeguard sat the girl up.
The girl was breathing after multiple chest compressions.
"She was scared and crying hysterically," Miller said.
The rescue was one of a few scares for people Memorial Day. A few hours later, we spotted lifeguards searching for a missing kid who was later found.
"They did a good job," said Tom Weisensee.
"I feel like everyone made a good effort," said Steven Ricks.
As some people praised the work of the guards manning the beach, Miller says there are simply just not enough of them.
"Of course there should be more," she said. "This wouldn't have happened if there were more."
While Chicago has openly struggled to hire lifeguards, the Park District claimed - last week that they were ready.
"The more than 20 beaches will be open and fully staffed," Chicago Park District General Supt. and Chief Executive Officer Rosa Escareño said last week.
Some beachgoers hoping such incidents are not a snapshot of what's to come.
"There are so many kids here – I mean, this is the first day of the summer," Miller said.
The Park District released the following statement:
"The safety of everyone who visits our parks and beaches is paramount. The Chicago Park District's lifeguard team is the largest, most extensively trained lifeguard service in the nation. In response to the emergency at 31st Street, lifeguards acted swiftly and followed protocol for an emergency water rescue."
Lifeguard staffing numbers at Chicago beaches were also reportedly in line with numbers at the start of the season in previous years.
