SOUTH THOMASTON — The South Thomaston Fire Department opened its doors April 29 and welcomed the special needs community and their families. Several members of the community came by and had the chance to sit in fire trucks, tour the fire station, look at the tools that firefighters use, and a member of the fire department put his fire gear on to show members what they may see in the event of an emergency.

South Thomaston Ambulance and NorthEast Mobile Health joined the event. The guests were invited into the ambulance to see how the equipment works and what it feels like to be inside. Some members got their blood pressure checked and had a stethoscope put on their chest to listen to their heart. The EMTs told their new friends about their job and what they do in their field of work.

A member of the Maine Warden Service, the South Thomaston EMA director and Sparky the Fire Dog joined as well. While many of the visitors loved Sparky, a few were a bit scared or shy. Many guests had their pictures taken with Sparky.

The plan is to hold the event twice a year. It is important to introduce people to first responders. Most children meet firefighters during fire prevention week. People with special needs may be more anxious around people in uniform, emergency vehicles, or they may get anxious seeing the lights or hearing the horns and sirens. Some people with autism may become a flight risk if they become overly anxious, and this can lead to a completely different problem during an emergency. Meeting first responders may help reduce the anxiety by showing that first responders are friends and there to help them. Special needs individuals may have a special toy or stuffed animal, and one concern is they may try to return to a scene or inside a home to get their special friend. This could be very dangerous and put them at risk.

It's also important to introduce our first responders to the local special needs community. Having been an EMT off and on over the past 30+ years, I can honestly say that I do not believe I had ever really encountered someone with autism first hand. My grandson was diagnosed almost six years ago. I would not have known how to handle the challenges that we may have to face with a person with autism, if I hadn’t see the many quirks he has. What we may normally look at as a tantrum, could be something more complex, such as sensory overload, which can result in a meltdown that they have no control over. It's not something they can just turn off. It can take time for them to come out of a meltdown. People with autism often "stim" to help themselves filter out all of the overwhelming sights and sounds. They may flick their fingers in front of their eyes, flap their hands when they are excited, cover or plug their ears when the environment is too loud. These actions can be intimidating for a person that has never encountered these actions.

"The day was an eye opener and educational all at once. I think it is a great way to make our special needs kids and grownups comfortable with the emergency responders. It also helps the emergency responders to get comfortable with them and what to look for if the individual isn't communicating or just not acting right at an emergency scene. I think other emergency departments need to get behind this program and hold future open houses and get on board with special needs in our community so when we have to interact with them at an emergency scene we can be more helpful than harmful to them." South Thomaton Fire Chief Bryan Calderwood said.

Recently, Knox County lost a young man with Down syndrome, and his dad, to a house fire. He was afraid, so he wouldn't come out of the building. His father went back inside to get him. Incidences such as this make the open house events, and education on how to crawl out of a building that is on fire, or how to stop, drop and roll, are all crucial. This is not going to be fixed overnight. We may never wipe out the anxiety for some people, however I hope we can make many people feel less anxious. At the first open house event, a 17-year-old young man overcame his fear of firetrucks, by eventually sitting in a firetruck. The patience of one firefighter went a long way in helping this young man. He had previously refused to attend, until I put it in writing that there would be no lights, sirens or horns.

This is what the special needs open house events aim to accomplish. Even if it's one person at each event that overcomes something they are afraid of. As EMTs show people their equipment, let people touch the blood pressure cuff or stethoscope, have the pulse oximeter on their finger, or lay on the cot and be buckled in, it will go a long way. So if they do have to ride in the ambulance for an emergency, they may remember that it's not scary and it doesn't hurt. I feel it's extremely important to build a relationship and trust between our special needs family and our first responders. We want people to feel safe going to first responders rather than run away and be in more danger.

As a caregiver of a special needs child, I know that one day my grandson is going to be bigger and stronger than I am. I know I won't always be able to help him get through a meltdown or a bout of anger. If his dad isn't around to help then I may be forced to call 9-1-1 for assistance. This is not an easy call for caregivers to make. We worry that our loved one will be misunderstood as uncooperative or on drugs. We worry we will be judged as bad caregivers or we can't handle them. We also fear that someone will call Maine Child Protection Services and we could have our loved one taken away. If we can help first responders understand our loved ones through this event, then we will feel more confident in making the call to 9-1-1.

If you aren't able to attend an open house event, I strongly urge families to visit your local police, fire and EMS departments and introduce them to each other. If you are unable to do that, call the department directly and ask if it is possible to make an appointment for someone from each department to come to your home.

It's up to both sides to build a relationship and trust. Emergency personnel need to take time to make this work, as well as the caregivers. I hope to see more of both at future events. I encourage police, fire and EMS personnel to join us at these events.

Knox Regional Communication Center makes every effort to have a representative at these events to educate caregivers about the 9-1-1 system and Knox County’s Wandering Person Program.

We will have an extra sensory friendly open house event this year. The Rockland Elks Lodge 1008 has graciously extended an invitation told hold an open house event at their lodge on June 17, 2017 from 10:00 – 2:00. It has been decided to make this event open to the public, yet still remain sensory friendly for our special needs friends. There will be no lights, sirens or horns during the open house. The Elks members will be providing lunch.

For more information visit the Facebook page: Look for the Helpers. Let them be your voice.

FMI: Michele Robinson at helpersbetheirvoice@gmail.com.