“On May 13th, we had a birthday party for my daughter. Twelve children attended, including Mr. Galvan’s son, Geronimo. I was standing on the side of the pool watching the kids swim. Geronimo was swimming near the side where I was standing. I noticed he was swimming slowly, almost just floating.

A few seconds later, he started floating on his back with his face at the surface of the water. It did not look right to me, so called his name, and when he did not answer, I jumped in. As I was pulling him out of the pool, I yelled for my friend, Steve Legros, who is also an EMT and works for the Yuma Fire Department. I also noticed that Geronimo was very stiff, like he had tensed up all his muscles.

Steve and I got Geronimo to the patio, and placed him on the ground. His eyes were rolled back, and he was not responding. As Steve started checking his pulse and getting his level of consciousness, I grabbed my cell phone, and called 911 as I went to my canine vehicle to retrieve my EMT bag. When I got back Geronimo was grunting and started coughing. Then he started vomiting water. After he vomited, he started talking. We sat him up into a chair, administered oxygen with a non-rebreather mask, and just kept him talking and tried to keep him as comfortable as possible. He vomited some more water and said that he was feeling better.

A few minutes later, the fire department arrived and took over the scene. Geronimo was transported to the hospital for routine checks. My wife accompanied him until his parents arrived. Geronimo is a very strong child, and a wonderful kid. I still need to get him some cake and ice cream! I believe that moments like this make the Border Patrol EMT program in the Yuma Sector worth its weight in gold. I am very appreciative of this training.” DB