DENVER -- A Denver Police dispatcher recently reunited with a Lakewood police officer she helped following a crash earlier this month.
Dispatcher Erica Limon was on her way home from picking her children up from school on Aug. 2 when she saw debris flying from a traffic crash which had just occurred at Wadsworth and Colfax, according to a news release.
Limon pulled over to the side of the road and instructed her children to stay in the car. She then ran around the other vehicle involved in the crash and saw the motorcycle on the ground. It was at this time she noticed that the motorcycle was a marked unit for the Lakewood Police Department.
Despite the chaotic scene, she quickly assessed Officer Mark O'Donnell and determined that he was moving and breathing, but seriously injured.
Out of instinct, Limon grabbed for the officer’s radio and said, "Officer down, officer down…Wadsworth and Colfax…Colfax and Wadsworth. We need EMS Code 10."
JeffCOM, who dispatches for Lakewood, reported that they received multiple 9-1-1 calls about the crash but callers were quite panicked and they were unable to provide a firm location. Once the season dispatcher got on the air, it all became clear and they were able to send units to the correct location
Limon also remained on-scene, preventing others from moving the officer, providing him comfort and keeping him alert until additional units and EMS were also with him.
"Mark has since exclaimed that he is sure that he his alive thanks to Erica’s quick thinking and applied knowledge during this critical incident," the Dever Police Department wrote in a Facebook post.
Erica has always been someone who does the most-right-thing for our officers in Denver, and that attitude carried over during this event, where she provided critical information and comfort to the right people.
