Local first responders beat the Thursday afternoon rain to let the staff at South Florida Baptist Hospital know their hard work has not gone unnoticed.
Vehicles from Plant City Police Department, Plant City Fire Rescue, Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office and Hillsborough County Fire Rescue met at Bryan Elementary School around 1:45 p.m. and drove to the hospital, looping through the parking lot with sirens flashing and horns honking as they waved at dozens of cheering workers standing outside the main entrance. Members of both police departments gathered together at the end of the display and HCSO deputies held up signs that read “From our frontlines to yours, thank you.”
Sgt. Al Van Duyne, PCPD spokesman, said the first responders believe hospital workers like those at SFBH are heroes in the time of the novel coronavirus and that the decision to join the county sheriff and fire rescue in saluting area hospital workers Thursday was a no-brainer.
“It was definitely a wonderful opportunity for us to participate,” Van Duyne said. “There’s so much we’ve heard from around the country about staff being overwhelmed.. we definitely wanted to let them know their law enforcement and fire communities appreciate them. They’re heroes, each and every one of them.”