Last weekend, the Merriman family made the decision to call 911 for their four-year-old son, Tucker
“He started to get a bloody nose which for any typical family is not that big of a deal,” said Sophia Merriman “About 10 minutes in we decided that we needed help.”
"One of his triggers, being autistic, is being touched, being restrained,” Merriman said. “So, he was not letting us put a Kleenex to his face. He was thrashing and like really freaking out.”
On the other end of the phone call, Merriman was surprised by the questions she was being asked by dispatch.
"‘Are the sirens going to bother him? Are the lights going to bother him’? I was like, ‘Yes, they are going to bother him. I'm like, 'Thank you for asking’,” Merriman smiled.
In minutes, the Gilbert Fire Department arrived silently and kept its promise. No lights, no sirens.
"They were so good with him once they realized that all he needed was to be calm for us to take care of him,” Merriman said. “They were like, ‘What stimming behaviors does he have that help calm him down’? And I was just like, ‘What an awesome question’.”
The response is a result of the new Autism Awareness Training by Gilbert Public Safety.
Officer Levi Leyba with the Gilbert Police Department admitted, “We were realizing that you know what, certain calls for services might dictate a different outcome when somebody has autism.”
Leyba said, “We saw there was a need in the community where we need to go ahead and be better trained as a police department and as a fire department.”
Deputy Chief Mark Justus with the Gilbert Fire Department added, “We got with some of our own members who have children who are on the spectrum and interviewed them and they told their stories.”
The departments met their goal to become certified in Autism Awareness in 45 days.
"It's called a spectrum for a reason because if you've met one person with autism, they say you've met one person with autism. So, you have to approach each one so differently. And sometimes what worked today, won't work tomorrow and you got to have plan A through Z," Justus said.
Gilbert officials say Mesa and Queen Creek have also completed the training — with the goal that this training reaches all Valley departments.