InMaricopa
A new tool on city fire trucks will help first responders to calm people with autism spectrum disorder and de-escalate the scene of emergencies.
The “sensory bags” are designed to help reduce the anxiety felt during an emergency situation or the noise and bright lights from fire vehicles. The bags will be kept with EMS equipment on each truck.
The 10 kits, donated by the chamber of commerce, contain a number of items intended to distract and soothe, including noise-reducing headphones, objects with a variety of soft, smooth and spiny textures, and activities that require concentration, such as a Rubik’s Cube and fidget spinner.
InMaricopa
Firefighters and paramedics remove the driver from a car accident Monday evening along Maricopa Casa Grande Highway. Photo by Bob McGovern
A vehicle went off Maricopa Casa Grande Highway Monday evening, striking a wall behind a home in Senita.
The crash occurred about 5:40 p.m. just south of the Maricopa Unified School District administration building.
About a half-dozen personnel with the Maricopa Fire/Medical Department worked to extricate the driver.
The vehicle appeared to veer off the highway. It struck and collapsed a portion of the community wall behind a home on West Cowpath Road in Senita and came to rest on the upside of a deep gully along the roadway.