This is how it's supposed to be in my industry...
N.C. Officer and EMTs Go Extra Mile for Local Citizen
Donna Swicegood
Statesville Record & Landmark, N.C.
Jan. 4--Legally blind and a brittle diabetic, Jo Gallo relies on a low-vision machine to help her see and to regulate her blood sugar and insulin doses.
On the afternoon of Dec. 19, Gallo, who will soon be 80, realized the light was blinking on her low vision machine, an indication that something was wrong.
She picked up the phone to call her service provider, and instead found all four of her phones dead.
Gallo said she was worried. "There was no way I could get out and get help," she said.
So she waited for the postal carrier to come, and when she heard the mail come through the slot, she called out to the carrier.
"I told her my phone was dead," Gallo said.
The carrier placed a call to the Statesville Police Department using a cell phone.
A few minutes later, Officer James Robinson arrived.
Robinson did more than just listen to Gallo's problem. He took action.
Robinson went to the phone box on the outside of the house, and checked the wires.
Iredell EMS was called to check Gallo's blood sugar and to help her with her insulin doses.
While paramedic Angela Hobbs checked Gallo's medical condition, the other paramedic, Ian McCarthy, along with Robinson, went back to work on the phone lines, and got one phone working.
Robinson, Gallo said, also called the service provider for her low-vision machine and learned a repair person couldn't come out until after Christmas, some six days away.
At that point, said Statesville Police Department Chief Tom Anderson, Robinson did some research and discovered it needed a new bulb and he could get one at Lowe's.
Robinson drove to Lowe's, got the light bulb and went back to fix the machine.
For Gallo, that meant she could check her own blood sugar, read on a limited basis and feel secure about her health.
Robinson also placed a call to Gallo's phone provider, and explained she needed assistance right away. A repairman came out the next day, she said.
Gallo said she was thrilled with the actions of Robinson, Hobbs and McCarthy.
"They were just extremely nice," she said. "The three of them worked together to help me out."
Anderson said the police department chose to honor Robinson with a meritorious service award for his actions to help Gallo.
"He went above and beyond the call of duty, and provided a valuable service to one of our citizens," Anderson said.
Gallo said this isn't the first time emergency service providers came to her assistance.
Once, she said, she heard the smoke detectors beeping and, through her cloudy vision, thought there was smoke in the house.
The Statesville Fire Department came out and discovered the smoke detector batteries were the problem and there was no smoke in the house.
"They replaced the batteries and told me to call any time I needed them," she said.
Gallo said she's glad to live in a community with people such as Robinson, Hobbs and McCarthy to answer calls for help.
"I just can't say enough about them," she said.
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