Residents at a home in the 5900 block of Whitmire Road called 911 at 1:14 p.m. Wednesday to report the drowning, Hall County sheriff’s Sgt. Kiley Sargent said.

The woman, who was not identified Wednesday pending notification of next of kin, was at the home visiting friends and had stepped outside to smoke a cigarette, Sargent said.

She was last seen perched on a stepladder on the side of the 4-foot deep, above-ground pool, Sargent said.

Residents told authorities the woman was alone for 10 minutes or longer before children at the house found her unresponsive in the pool.

A woman who lives at the house performed CPR before paramedics arrived but could not revive the victim, who had no vital signs, Sargent said.

"Right now everything’s pointing to an accident," Sargent said, adding that sheriff’s officials were conducting an investigation due to the age of the woman and the location of the drowning. "There are no signs of foul play."

Sargent said "there was evidence on the scene that alcohol was being consumed, but we don’t know exactly what the level of intoxication was."

Blood toxicology tests will be performed, he said.