A Littlerock toddler is alive today thanks to an alert older brother and a fast response from some trained Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies.

The incident began Saturday at 10:18 a.m. when a 16-year-old boy called 9-1-1 to report that his 15-month-old brother wasn’t breathing at the family home on 85th Street East in Littlerock, a high desert community east of Plamdale.

The call was routed to the Palmdale Sheriff’s Station, which by sheer coincidence had two deputies on patrol on the same street.

The deputies, Shaffer and Towne, arrived at the home and learned that the toddler had been found lying face-down in the grass near a swimming pool. The baby wasn’t breathing.

Shaffer and Towne performed CPR on the baby until Los Angeles County Fire Department paramedics arrived and took over the CPR duties. Other deputies used their patrol cars to block traffic at the intersections while the baby was transported by ambulance to an area hospital.

Upon arrival, doctors determined that the baby had a pulse, and a short while later, he began labored breathing on his own. He was then airlifted to another hospital for specialized treatment and remains in critical condition.

“Likely what had happened was a 9-year-old family member with a developmental disability had apparently taken the baby into the family pool,” according to a statement from Sgt. David Sauer of the Palmdale Station. “Preliminarily, this incident appears to be an accident.”