without adult supervision, a lifeguard has revealed.

And Saturday's mishap has prompted an official to warn parents about the danger of leaving children unsupervised at the beach.

Police said the young girl fell into the water from a raft and got into difficulty.

The incident resulted in the youngster being detained in King Edward VII Memorial Hospital for observation.

But lifeguard superintendent Jamie Pedro yesterday told the Royal Gazette that the young girl, who nearly drowned, was at Clearwater Beach without the supervision of an adult.

And he said it was lifeguard Dave Cote's quick action that save the youngster's life.

"The little girl was under the supervision of a ten-year-old,'' Mr. Pedro revealed. "There were no parents with the children.

"Dave saw the little girl floating on her back and checked his binoculars to make sure she was alright. When he noticed that she was in distress he ran into the water.'' Mr. Pedro said the ten-year-old child was attempting to carry the girl out of the water.

"Dave ran and took her away from the kid,'' he said. "He assessed her and noticed that she was not breathing but had a strong pulse. He gave her five or six rescue breaths and she threw up and started breathing.'' Mr. Pedro said two other lifeguards, Scott Leitch and Patrica Colavecchia, provided assistance and called Police.

"Dave did an excellent job,'' he added.

Mr. Pedro said incidents, like Saturday's mishap, has caused his department concern.

"We are concerned about young children being unsupervised at the beach,'' he said. "Although lifeguards are at the beach, they cannot babysit these children because there are a lot of people to monitor.'' Currently, when lifeguards spot unsupervised children on a beach, they ask the children not to go into the water.

"Young children can drown so quickly,'' Mr. Pedro pointed out. " All it takes is one big gulp of water. This girl was young and that's why she digressed so quickly.'' Mr. Pedro said his department was also concerned about the public's reaction to emergency situations.

"During Saturday's rescue, the whole beach converged on the scene and were standing around. When the little girl regained consciousness, she became frightened when she saw all those people standing around her.''