Firefighters Buy Elderly Woman Microwave After Responding to Life Alert Alarm
Policemen, firefighters and other first responders are trained to notice things around them. They’re aware of their surroundings and keep an eye on the people they pass.
If someone is in distress or experiencing a problem, they’re usually the first ones to notice. It’s part of their job, but they act on those observations even when they’re not technically on the clock.
Officers Meyerdick and Freitas with the Elk Grove Police Department in Elk Grove, California, noticed an elderly man tending to his yard last year. The man looked like he could use some help, so the officers stepped in.
“Without hesitation, they jumped right in and assisted the community member finish the job,” the department wrote on Oct. 23. “We would not have known about our officers lending a hand had it not been for the community member calling in to express her gratitude.”
“We are grateful for the community member calling us and for our officers jumping in to assist our community member.”
In December 2017, firefighter Daryl Burns was doing some paperwork when an elderly man named Jesse Lagunas came into the station to ask for help figuring out a safety harness he’d bought and wanted to use to DIY his shed roof repairs.
Not wanting the 82-year-old community member to attempt climbing up onto the shed himself without help, the firefighters proposed an alternative to him, saying they’d be over after their shifts to complete the repairs themselves.
“They said, you go and start on it, and when we get off, we’ll help you come and finish it,” Lagunas told KXAN-TV. “I thought, wow, we’re afraid that you might fall and we don’t want that to happen.”
It only took the firefighters a few minutes to fix up the roof, but in that time they made fast friends with Lagunas and his wife, who insisted on making them all dinner.
On Feb. 21, another story came out of firefighters going beyond their job description to make someone’s life better. Some firemen with the High Springs Fire Department in High Springs, Florida, were notified that a Life Alert alarm had been activated, so they went out to check on its user.
“At 5:40 this afternoon, High Springs Firefighters responded to a Life Alert alarm activation,” the High Springs Fire Department wrote on Feb. 21. “Upon arrival, firefighters found that the activation was accidental and there was no medical emergency. But there was one problem our guys noticed…”
“You see, this member of ‘The Greatest Generation’ lives alone and receives meals from the Meals on Wheels program, many of them frozen. That problem we noticed? Her microwave doesn’t work.
“After learning this, the crew of Squad 29 reported directly to Lowe’s Home Improvement and purchased this young lady a new microwave, promptly returned to her residence, installed it, and cooked her dinner.
“In Small Town USA, neighbors help neighbors. *Disclaimer: Firefighter/Paramedic Hope is engaged. Sorry ladies! ;)”
Thanks to their efforts and a very generous young man, something very good came out of a false alarm.
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