A 4-year-old boy was found unresponsive in a residential swimming pool in northern Delaware County last evening, prompting a frantic rescue effort by family members before emergency crews arrived. The child was breathing on his own by the time deputies reported an update, according to the sheriff's department, and was in stable condition after being flown by medical helicopter to a specialized children's hospital in Indianapolis.
Emergency responders were dispatched to the home around 5:30 p.m. yesterday, according to Delaware County Chief Deputy Jeff Stanley, as reported by The Star Press. A family member had found the boy unresponsive in the pool and pulled him out, and family members began performing CPR while Delaware County 911 dispatchers walked them through the process over the phone. That kind of over-the-phone guidance, known as telecommunicator CPR, can double or triple survival rates in out-of-hospital cardiac arrests, according to American Heart Association guidelines.
Once paramedics arrived, emergency personnel continued lifesaving efforts, per Stanley. The child was then taken by ambulance to IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie, which functions as a Level III Trauma Center capable of stabilizing patients before they're transferred elsewhere, according to IU Health.
Why the Boy Was Flown to Indianapolis
From Muncie, the boy was flown by medical helicopter to Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, where he received advanced medical care. Riley has been verified by the American College of Surgeons as Indiana's only Level I Pediatric Trauma Center since 1993, according to Indiana's trauma system records, meaning it's equipped to handle the most complex pediatric injuries in the state. Immediate on-scene resuscitation is considered the single most critical factor in preventing permanent hypoxic brain injury after a near-drowning, according to clinical research published in Frontiers in Pediatrics, which also found that 86% of pediatric near-drowning hospitalizations occur in swimming pools.
The Delaware County Sheriff's Department is investigating the incident, and it remains unclear exactly how the child ended up in the water unsupervised. Indiana's residential building code requires all residential pools to be enclosed by a wall or fence at least 4 feet tall with self-closing, self-latching gates, or fitted with an approved power safety cover, under Rule R326.27.3 of the 2020 Indiana Residential Code. Whether the pool at the center of Sunday's incident met that standard has not been addressed publicly.
A Familiar Pattern Across Indiana
Pediatric drowning remains a persistent problem statewide, particularly during the summer months. State health records show 33 Indiana children between the ages of 1 and 10 died from drowning between 2018 and 2021, with fatalities consistently peaking in summer, according to the Indiana Department of Health. Broader figures from the same agency indicate that 127 Indiana residents under 18 died from drowning between 2018 and 2023, with males accounting for three out of every four pediatric drowning deaths.
Nationally, drowning is the leading cause of injury-related death for children ages 1 to 4, and most fatal and non-fatal incidents happen in home swimming pools, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Sunday's incident follows a string of Indiana water emergencies involving young children this summer, including the July drowning death of a 1-year-old boy in Greensburg, who died despite CPR efforts and air transport to a children's hospital. That case, along with others reported across the state this summer, has prompted renewed public safety messaging around water hazards for young children.
As of the most recent update from the sheriff's department, the 4-year-old boy was in stable condition. The Delaware County Sheriff's Department has not released further details on the circumstances that led to the child entering the pool, and the investigation remains open.
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