Quick action saves 8-year-old girl from drowning in Rainier Beach

Jacqualine Boles, a nurse practitioner, performed CPR on an 8-year-old girl who nearly drowned Monday night at the Rainier Beach public boat launch. (Photo: KCPQ-TV)



SEATTLE -- Quick thinking by a nurse practitioner probably saved the life of an 8-year-old girl who was drowning in the water off the Rainier Beach public boat launch Monday night.

The girl was pulled limp from the water after being under water for several minutes, but the nurse performed CPR and revived her. The girl was taken to Harborview Medical Center in critical but stable condition.

Jacqualine Boles, the nurse practitioner, said she watched as a group of children in the water were playing a game. The 8-year-old girl kept asking, "Who can save me?" And when a couple of the the children volunteered, Boles said, the girl went under the water, but did not surface.

The girl was difficult to find because the visibility of the water was bad, but a man finally found the girl and pulled her out. At that point, Boles jumped into action.

"I said put her right here. I put her here and I immediately began CPR, CPR, CPR. I think two or three minutes went by and she began to spit up...

"Mom's panicked, everybody is screaming ... children crying, it's complete mayhem," Boles said.

But the girl survived a close call.