Child Critical After Being Found Unconscious in Spa

THOUSAND OAKS — A 3-year-old girl was in critical condition Friday night after her mother discovered her floating unconscious in an outdoor spa.

The girl could have been floating in the elevated spa for as long as 15 minutes as family and friends searched for her, according to Ventura County Senior Sheriff’s Deputy Larry Logan.

Witnesses said the girl, whose name was withheld by authorities, was in the swimming pool with her three siblings, her mother and friends at the home of another family in the 800 block of Puesta Del Sol, officials said.

“There were a lot of kids,” said Logan. “It was a neighborhood event.”

When the toddler was finished swimming, her mother took her out of the pool, dried her off and removed the flotation device she had on her arms, authorities said.

About 10 minutes later, the mother noticed her daughter was missing and began looking for her, Logan said.

Because the wall around the spa was elevated, the child was not immediately spotted and is believed to have been in the water for five to 15 minutes, according to Logan.

“There was nobody else in the Jacuzzi,” he said.

When the girl was discovered at 3:06 p.m., neighbors administered CPR until Ventura County medical personnel arrived, Logan said.

He said that she did not regain consciousness.

The girl was taken to Columbia Los Robles Hospital in Thousand Oaks and later transferred to Encino-Tarzana Regional Medical Center in Tarzana, where she remained in critical condition in the children’s intensive care unit, according to nursing supervisors.

Authorities have already ruled out foul play.

“There’s absolutely no reason to think it was anything but an accident,” Logan said.