On July 1, a male teenager was pulled from Lake Meridian at around 5 p.m. that night. Another teenager alerted lifeguards that he had not surfaced.

According to lifeguards on duty that night, a swimmer wearing a flotation device began yelling for assistance from the area inside the dock at the park. They said when they investigated, the teen said he was yelling for help because another swimmer had disappeared while swimming next to him.

Lifeguards immediately began to search the area for the missing swimmer and other lifeguards began to dial 911 and bringing rescue equipment, according to the Puget Sound Regional Fire Authority.

They used a human chain to search the five to nine feet water, they found the teen and brought him to the shore. They said CPR was initiated and they attached an external defibrillator to his chest.

Lifeguards continued their treatment until firefighters and paramedics arrived and took over.

According to the Puget Sound Regional Fire Authority, after working on the patient for several minutes , rescuers were able to regain a pulse. The patient was then transported to a fire station where a helicopter from Airlift Northwest flew him to a local hospital.

According to Fire and Police Chaplain and Crisis Counselor Pat Ellis, who interviewed the lifeguards, “Listening to them recount their actions, it was very clear that they did exactly what they needed and were trained to do,” he said. “It’s because of these young women and men that the firefighters and paramedics had a chance to save this young man.”