ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Albuquerque Fire Rescue and a local non-profit are celebrating a milestone by helping bridge the gap between their personnel and patients with Autism. Elevate the Spectrum introduced the Hero Bags in 2021, and on Tuesday, AFR celebrated a milestone with more than 2,000 of those bags having been distributed.
Inside, you can find noise-cancelling headphones to reduce overwhelming sounds and a whiteboard to give non-verbal patients a way to communicate. “When it comes to Autism and emergency situations, some individuals might become overstimulated and their first instinct might be to bolt or elope. There might be an overwhelming meltdown because of it. So we wanted to make sure that as long as we keep those lines of communication open, we can do what’s best for them,” said Jennifer Sanchez, Elevate the Spectrum.
AFR and Elevate the Spectrum said Hero Bags have created a more inclusive environment for neurodivergent people in crisis.