Redmond-area toddler nearly drowns in pond

An 18-month-old Redmond-area boy who nearly drowned after falling into in an irrigation pond has been flown to a Portland hospital for treatment, Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies said Thursday.

Deputies and detectives, assisted by Oregon State Police, were dispatched around 6 p.m. Wednesday on a reported drowning at a home on SW 58 th Street just west of Redmond, said sheriff’s Sgt. Don Manning. Redmond fire medics also responded to the scene.

An initial investigation found the boy was outside with family “and had wandered away for a short period of time,” Manning said in a news release.

Family members began to search for him and found him in an irrigation pond on the property. They called 911 and started CPR, and medics soon arrived to take over the life-saving efforts, Manning said.

Scanner calls indicated the boy had begun breathing and crying within minutes of the initial call.

The child was revived and flown by Life Flight helicopter to St. Charles-Bend for treatment, the sergeant said. Deputies confirmed Thursday that he had been taken to an unidentified Portland hospital, declining to release his name or other details.

The investigation is continuing, Manning said, but so far indicates “this incident appears to be non-criminal in nature.”