A 14-year-old boy was rescued from the bottom of a Bloomington hotel pool Thursday by a bystander who, as luck would have it, happened to be a nurse, police said.

The woman jumped into the water and pulled out the boy, who at first had a pulse but was not breathing, said Bloomington police Cmdr. Mark Stehlik. The nurse performed CPR until he was breathing on his own. He was conscious and talking when he was taken to Fairview Southdale Hospital in Edina for observation, Stehlik said.

The incident occurred about 11 a.m. at the Sheraton Bloomington Hotel, 7800 Normandale Blvd.

Stehlik said the boy, a hotel guest from Chicago, had been playing on the side of the pool when he slipped and fell in. He did not know what caused the boy to go to the bottom.

Others tried unsuccessfully to rescue the boy before the nurse dove in, Stehlik said.

He said the nurse, who asked not to be identified, works at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis. He did not know if she was staying at the hotel or attending an event there.

ANTHONY LONETREE