DENVER — The Denver Police Department recognized one of its 911 dispatchers for her quick work in helping a Lakewood police officer seriously injured in a crash earlier this month.
Police said Erica Limon, a Denver 911 Communications Center dispatcher and EMT , was on her way home after picking up her kids from school on Aug. 2.
While driving, she saw debris flying from a crash at Wadsworth Boulevard and Colfax Avenue. Limon pulled over and told her children to stay in the car.
Limon ran to the crash site and saw Lakewood Police Department officer Mark O’Donnell — who had been on his police motorcycle at the time — lying on the ground.
He was moving and breathing, but seriously injured, police said.
“Erica grabbed for the officer’s radio and said, ‘Officer down, officer down. … Wadsworth and Colfax. … Colfax and Wadsworth. We need EMS Code 10’,” police said on their Facebook page.
Denver police said JeffCOM, which dispatches for Lakewood police, had received a number of 911 calls about the crash. However, the callers were panicked and unable to confirm the location.
“Once Erica got on the air, it all became clear and they were able to send units to the correct location,” police said.
Limon remained at the scene to prevent people from moving O’Donnell and kept him alert until medics arrived.
On Friday, Limon reunited with O’Donnell at a hospital.
“Mark has since exclaimed that he is sure that he [is] alive thanks to Erica’s quick thinking and applied knowledge during this critical incident,” police wrote in a post with a picture of Limon at O’Donnell’s side in the hospital.
On Friday, O’Donnell was released from the hospital.
According to Lakewood police, O’Donnell is a 12-year veteran of the police force. He was not on a police call at the time. The investigation into the crash is ongoing.