Boy pulled from pool

Stefanie Geisler, Globe Correspondent

A year-old boy was rescued by his babysitter and his mother early today after he nearly drowned in his family's swimming pool in Stoneham, police said.

The boy was found face up and unresponsive in the pool about 9:45 a.m. after the babysitter turned away while changing his bathing diaper, Police Chief Richard Bongiorno said.

The babysitter had removed the bottom of the child's bathing suit and a waist swimming bubble and had gone to get a garden hose about 15 to 25 feet away, Bongiorno said.

"It wasn't easy to untangle it," Bongiorno said. "It took about two minutes. When she untangled it and turned, that's when she saw the baby in the pool."

She jumped into the pool and pulled the child out, Bongiorno said. She then brought him and his 3-year-old sibling, whom she was also watching, inside the family's home.

The toddler's mother was working on a computer inside, and she quickly dialed 911, police said. A dispatcher instructed her in infant CPR, police said.

Water and vomit was cleared from the toddler's lungs within about two minutes, police said.

Stoneham police and fire officials responded. The child was taken to Winchester Hospital and later brought to Children's Hospital in Boston.

The incident is believed to be accidental, police said.

"They all did a wonderful job," Bongiorno said. "Just a tragic accident, no negligence that we could determine."