Sheer Terror
A La Quinta High School student died today after classmates found him at the bottom of the school pool, a spokesman for the Riverside County Sheriff's Department said.
Cesar Urena, 14, was pronounced dead at 3:07 p.m. at John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital in Indio. The 911 call came at 2:27 p.m, according to the sheriff's department.
Desert Sands Unified School District Interim Superintendent Doris Wilson said a crisis team of counselors will be available for students beginning at 7 a.m. Monday.
The boy was in a sixth-period physical education class with about 40 students, said La Quinta High School Principal Donna Salazar. The boy was in a sixth-period physical education class with about 40 students, said La Quinta High School Principal Donna Salazar. When the 40-minute class ended, students got out of the pool and saw the boy at the bottom, she said. It is unclear how long the boy was underwater.
The pool ranges from three feet to nine feet in
depth. Salazar said she did not know at what depth the boy was found. Students pulled the boy out of the water, and the
school's athletic trainer performed CPR. Medics detected "a faint pulse," Salazar said, before they transported him to John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital in Indio shortly after 2:30 p.m. today.
The incident is being investigated, Salazar said. The physical education teacher -- who is Water Safety Instructor, or WSI, certified -- and the athletic trainer were in the pool area while students swam, Salazar said. She declined to identify the boy, his age or class level at the school. Today was the fourth day of school for the 2007-08 year.
Wilson said district policy does not limit the number of students allowed in the pool during physical education class. Lifeguards also are not required, she said. Does your child attend La Quinta High School? What can he or she tell us? E-mail us at localnews@thedesertsun.com or call 778-4649.
Check back with mydesert.com for details as they become available.
-This should have never happened. What happened to 10/20... 10 seconds to scan and entire pool and recognize an emergcney then 20 seconds to reach a guest in distress and begin administering care? I'm a lifeguard instructor and I know better than that. 40 students to one teacher... who isn't even an aquatic expert.
Cesar Urena, 14, was pronounced dead at 3:07 p.m. at John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital in Indio. The 911 call came at 2:27 p.m, according to the sheriff's department.
Desert Sands Unified School District Interim Superintendent Doris Wilson said a crisis team of counselors will be available for students beginning at 7 a.m. Monday.
The boy was in a sixth-period physical education class with about 40 students, said La Quinta High School Principal Donna Salazar. The boy was in a sixth-period physical education class with about 40 students, said La Quinta High School Principal Donna Salazar. When the 40-minute class ended, students got out of the pool and saw the boy at the bottom, she said. It is unclear how long the boy was underwater.
The pool ranges from three feet to nine feet in
depth. Salazar said she did not know at what depth the boy was found. Students pulled the boy out of the water, and the
school's athletic trainer performed CPR. Medics detected "a faint pulse," Salazar said, before they transported him to John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital in Indio shortly after 2:30 p.m. today.
The incident is being investigated, Salazar said. The physical education teacher -- who is Water Safety Instructor, or WSI, certified -- and the athletic trainer were in the pool area while students swam, Salazar said. She declined to identify the boy, his age or class level at the school. Today was the fourth day of school for the 2007-08 year.
Wilson said district policy does not limit the number of students allowed in the pool during physical education class. Lifeguards also are not required, she said. Does your child attend La Quinta High School? What can he or she tell us? E-mail us at localnews@thedesertsun.com or call 778-4649.
Check back with mydesert.com for details as they become available.
-This should have never happened. What happened to 10/20... 10 seconds to scan and entire pool and recognize an emergcney then 20 seconds to reach a guest in distress and begin administering care? I'm a lifeguard instructor and I know better than that. 40 students to one teacher... who isn't even an aquatic expert.