Keira Was 3 and Had No Pulse When Firefighters Found Her Beside a Studio City Pool, and Five Months Later She Met the Crew That Brought Her Back

Four minutes after the 911 call, Los Angeles firefighters reached a Studio City home on May 9 and found 3-year-old Keira lying beside a swimming pool, not breathing and with no pulse. Another four minutes of CPR and airway work later, her heart was beating again, the Los Angeles Fire Department said.

On Oct. 20, Keira was there to watch the seven members of Fire Station 86 who worked on her that day receive a formal department honor.

Four Minutes, Then Four More

Station 86 was sent to a report of a child pulled from a residential pool, according to the LAFD. The crew arrived within four minutes. Within five minutes of dispatch, paramedics had begun advanced resuscitative care, including continuous CPR and airway management.

After about four minutes of that treatment, the crew achieved what paramedics call return of spontaneous circulation, meaning Keira’s heart began beating on its own. Her vital signs kept improving on the way to a local emergency room, where the receiving physician was optimistic about a full recovery, the department said.

LAFD spokesperson Jennifer Middleton said the Station 86 members “took immediate control of the emergency scene,” MyNewsLA reported.

The department has not released Keira’s last name, her parents’ names or how she ended up in the pool.

Seven Names on the Honor

The crew recognized at the Oct. 20 ceremony included Capt. Justin Randolph, Engineers Shawn Phillips and Daniel Harris, Firefighter-Paramedics Scott Luft, Curtis Faulkner and Preston Vowels, and Firefighter-Dispatcher Alfred Camacho, Patch reported.

Keira attended with her parents, and MyNewsLA reported that her brother was there as well. Department leadership presented the honors.

“Nothing weighs on a firefighter like a call involving a child,” an LAFD official said at the ceremony, according to Patch. The same official said the crew’s work under that level of pressure represented the best the department has to offer.

The ceremony came a little more than five months after the call, and it brought Keira’s family and the crew together at an official department event.

Why Pool Calls Involving Toddlers Are So Urgent

Keira’s age puts her in the group most at risk. More children ages 1 to 4 die from drowning than from any other cause, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC estimates about 4,000 fatal unintentional drownings and 8,000 nonfatal drownings happen in the United States each year, based on 2012 to 2021 data, and says nonfatal drownings can bring long-term health problems.

The American Academy of Pediatrics notes that many young children drown when no one expected them to be near the water. In a U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission study of children 4 and under in Arizona, California and Florida, nearly 70% were not expected to be at or in the pool, and nearly half were last seen inside the home, according to the AAP’s guidance for parents, updated in May 2026.

The AAP calls fencing “the most effective, proven way” to prevent young children from drowning. It recommends a fence at least 4 feet high on all four sides of a pool, separating it from the house, with a self-closing, self-latching gate that opens outward and a latch at least 54 inches off the ground.

Layers Families Can Add

Pediatricians describe pool safety in layers rather than a single fix. Alongside fencing, the AAP recommends door and gate alarms, window guards on windows facing the pool and covers that fully and securely close the water.

The group also urges families to assign a “water watcher” who gives constant attention to children near water and stays off the phone, to consider swim lessons that can begin for many children around age 1, and to learn CPR. If a child goes missing, the AAP says to check the pool or spa first.

In Keira’s case, the speed of the response mattered: a crew on scene in four minutes, advanced care started in five and a heartbeat restored after four more.

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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.

Image: Chris Yarzab – CC BY 2.0/Wikimedia Commons