Last week, Lehigh Valley Health Network hosted an event for EMS and first responder partners to pick up sensory bags, which are part of a network-wide strategy to better serve community members with sensory or behavioral health issues. The bags include items like noise-reducing earmuffs, weighted blankets, and nonverbal cue cards.
Sensory bags originated in Michigan in 2019, when a detective realized the importance of tools for police, firefighters, and EMS workers to work more effectively at a scene with a child with autism or similar processing difficulties.
Although these bags were originally created to help children on the autism spectrum, they have the ability to help “any child in a stressful situation who is dealing with anxiety, depression or trauma,” says Keith Micucci, CRNP, Chief Operating Officer at Lehigh Valley Hospital – Muhlenberg and Administrator of Emergency Medical Services…