British boy, 5, airlifted in critical condition after near-drowning at Lanzarote hotel pool

A British youngster has been airlifted in a “critical condition” to hospital after a near-drowning in his Lanzarote holiday pool.

A doctor and a hotel lifeguard started to try to resuscitate the five-year-old after they helped pull him out of the water and discovered he had gone into cardiac arrest.

Emergency responders continued to perform life-saving CPR on the boy after they reached the scene and managed to restore his pulse.

After he was stabilised he was flown on an air ambulance from Lanzarote to the neighbouring island of Gran Canaria and admitted to a paediatric intensive care unit.

Well-placed sources confirmed today the child was British and an investigation had been launched and is ongoing.

The alarm was raised just before 1pm local time yesterday at an unnamed hotel in the Lanzarote resort of Playa Blanca in the municipality of Yaiza.

A spokesman for a regional government-run emergency response coordination centre said overnight: “At 12.46pm yesterday, the Canary Islands Government's Emergency and Security Coordinating Centre received an alert reporting that a minor had been pulled out of a hotel swimming pool showing signs of drowning and in cardiorespiratory arrest, and that the establishment’s lifeguard, a doctor and other people who were at the scene were performing resuscitation manoeuvres on the child.

“Local police were mobilised along with the Canary Islands Emergency Service and the Lanzarote Consortium for Security, Emergencies, Rescue and Prevention.

“An advanced life support ambulance and another basic life support ambulance were also mobilised, as well as an air ambulance.

“Upon arrival at the scene of the incident, the medical personnel assessed and treated the affected person, a five-year-old minor, who remained in cardiorespiratory arrest, and continued performing advanced resuscitation manoeuvres that succeeded in restoring his pulse.

“Once he was stabilized, the youngster was transported in critical condition by medical helicopter, which landed next to the hotel and took him to the Materno Infantil University Hospital in the Gran Canarian capital Las Palmas

“Local police worked with firefighters to secure the landing and take-off manoeuvres of the medicalised helicopter.”

The condition of the British youngster has yet to be updated and staff at the Gran Canaria hospital could not be immediately reached this morning.

On June 20 a four-year-old girl from the UK drowned in a hotel swimming pool in the same Lanzarote resort of Playa Blanca.

The youngster lost her life on June 20 despite dramatic attempts to revive her at the unnamed hotel by emergency medical responders.