2 Chicago police officers rush to aid wounded boy, 15

May 06--Two Chicago police officers are being hailed as heroes by their commanding officer after they rushed to the aid of a 15-year-old boy who was badly bleeding after being shot earlier this week, possibly saving his life.

The boy had cut school and was walking with friends through the 3100 block of West Armitage Avenue in Logan Square about 1:45 p.m. Monday when someone in a passing vehicle shouted gang slogans and opened fire, hitting him in the left thigh, police said.

Officers Marlene Rivera and Edwin Pagan responded to the call. Rivera arrived first and had the teen take off his white T-shirt so she could apply it to the wound, police said.

Pagan arrived moments later, and by then the shirt was saturated with blood. Pagan had a passerby remove his leather belt so the officer could use it as a tourniquet above the boy's wound to stop or slow the bleeding, police said.

"They just responded so quickly because of the nature of the wound," said Shakespeare District Commander Marc Buslik.

Chicago Fire Department personnel arrived shortly afterward, and the boy was taken to a hospital where his condition was stabilized.

Buslik said he was told by a paramedic chief at the scene that the officers probably saved the boy's life.

Pagan had undergone department training on how to render first-aid in "immediate trauma care" situations, said Buslik, who went through the same training.

Chicago police started offering the training to its officers after one of their own, Del Pearson, was shot in the line of duty in 2012 on the South Side. Pearson, a South Chicago District tactical unit officer, was shot in the chest and nearly bled to death before his fellow officers got him to a hospital.

As part of the training, officers learn how to use such first-aid equipment as tourniquets and heavy-duty bandages.

jgorner@tribpub.com

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