Three deputies, Shane Lulei, Ryan Lopez and Lance Kramer, receive Life-Saver Award for saving a child who was unresponsive after falling into a home pool

Quick action was all-important when three St. Bernard Parish sheriff’s deputies arrived at an Arabi home on Sunday, Jan. 4, to answer a call about a two-year-old boy who was unconscious after falling into a pool.

Deputies Ryan Lopez and Lance Kramer, joined by off-duty Cpl. Shane Lulei, were at the Perrin Drive home within minutes of the call going out about 2 p.m. They immediately faced a scene of near-hysterical relatives with a boy on the ground after having been removed from a pool.

He was unresponsive and not breathing.

Lulei, Lopez and Kramer received the St. Bernard Kiwanis Club Life-Saver Award on Jan. 27 for their efforts that saved the child’s life that day.

The Kiwanis Club awards its Life-Saver Award four times a year to recognize sheriff’s deputies and parish firefighters who have gone above and beyond their duty.

Sam Catalanotto, chairman of the Life-Saver Committee, said the award “is our way of giving back to these guys for what they do’’ to protect the parish. Mitch Perkins, president of the Kiwanis Club this year, also participated in the award presentation.

Lopez, a six-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Office, immediately began CPR on the child on Jan. 4, assisted by Lulei, a 13-year Sheriff’s Office veteran who has also been with the Fire Department 15 years.

Kramer, who has been with the Sheriff’s Office 10 years, primarily dealt with comforting the family of the boy, who was from Massachusetts but had been visiting relatives on Perrin Drive with his parents. Lopez and Kramer are assigned to the Sheriff’s Office Patrol Division while Lulei is in the Special Operations Division.

Lopez and Lulei worked on the child for several minutes before emergency medical technicians and Fire Department personnel arrived, with Lulei adjusting the boy’s body as Lopez did compressions.

After a while the CPR started to work, with the child showing improving signs. He began slowly spitting up water and was taken to a hospital for further treatment.

At St. Bernard Parish Hospital, both Kramer and Lulei were present when they heard the youngster cry out, a sign he was responsive again.

Lulei said when he heard the cry at the hospital, “It brought tears to my eyes.’’

“Hearing him cry was something I won’t forget,’’ Kramer said, because it was such a a relief.

Lopez wasn’t at the hospital but said when he heard the news the boy was doing better it was emotional for him. “I broke down,’’ he said.

The boy remains hospitalized in New Orleans, but has been recovering.

All three deputies thanked the Kiwanis Club members for recognizing first-responders.

Lulei also said he was encouraged when the child that day began spitting up water during CPR. “I figured every bit of water that came out was good.” Having been at the scene of a child drowning several years ago, Lulei said, he was determined not to see that repeated.

Lopez told the club members the officers “were in the right place at the right time.’’

Kramer also said, “Hopefully, the child makes a full recovery.’’

Sheriff James Pohlmann told the Kiwanis Club he is “very proud to have guys like this’’ who perform at a professional level under pressure. “They didn’t do it alone, though. It was a team effort with help from the emergency medical technicians and the Fire Department’’ when they arrived, he said.

Numerous other representatives of the Sheriff’s Office also attended the ceremony.