Man Severs Arm, Gets Crucial Aid From 911

A city fire department emergency operator may have saved the life of a restaurant employee who lost his arm Tuesday morning in a commercial pasta dough-making machine.

Lisa Nerkowski, 39, a Los Angeles Fire Department 911 dispatcher who worked as a paramedic for 15 years, fielded a phone call just after 8 a.m. from a manager at the Los Feliz branch of Louise’s Trattoria in the 4500 block of Los Feliz Boulevard.

The man’s arm had apparently been severed just above the elbow, Nerkowski said. A spokesman for the restaurant identified the victim as Walter Roque, 20.

Nerkowski directed the manager to “get him lying down and elevate his feet” to keep blood flowing to internal organs and to make sure Roque did not go into shock, and stayed on the line until an ambulance arrived.

Roque underwent surgery to reattach his arm at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center. His condition was not immediately available.

“The instructions given by the 911 operator probably saved his life,” said Fire Department spokesman Bob Collis.

“It makes you feel good that your efforts helped,” said Nerkowski, a Riverside County resident. “We don’t get ‘attaboys’ too often, so it makes you feel good. You always wonder how your patient did.”