Teen at sailing camp pulled from Lake Washington in critical condition

SEATTLE — A 17-year-old boy was in critical condition after being pulled from Lake Washington Tuesday.

The teen was at a sailing camp and taking a standard water test as part of a summer program. The 17-year-old was with a group of other teens doing the water test.

The test was part of the YouthCare Seattle boating program with Sail Sand Point. The teen was underwater for about six minutes before being pulled to the dock.

Sail Sand Point instructors got the boy out of the lake before firefighters arrived, executive director Mary Anne Ward said. Sail Sand Point instructors are US Sailing Level 1 certified and CPR/First Aid/AED certified.

After pulling him from the water, they began CPR. When medics arrived, the boy had no pulse. After medics began giving the victim aid, he had a faint pulse by the time the ambulance left for the hospital.

Staff at Sail Sand Point said the incident was the first after training hundreds of kids each year how to be in and around the water.

Each year, about 2,000 children are part of boating programs with Sail Sand Point, Ward said.

The sailing camps were suspended for the day Monday, and instructors planned to review their processes to determine if they could have done anything differently.

Cox Media Group