Lights of Solidarity

COLDWATER - More than 50 emergency vehicles full of area first responders turned on their lights Thursday night in a show of support for health care workers.

This is the second year for the event aimed to boost morale for workers on the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic.

First responders in police and sheriff's cruisers, ambulances and fire trucks flashed their lights during a parade that began at the football field and then traveled to Mercer County Community Hospital and Briarwood Village.

The vehicles circled the hospital and paused there for about 30 minutes while staff peered out windows to view the illumination below. A huge banner with the phrase "We are still in this together" hung from the ladder of the Southwest Mercer fire truck.

Organizer Zach Piper, Celina, said his wife works at the hospital and he is close to several health care workers in the county. Piper, 33, is treasurer and safety officer for Mercer County Emergency Response Volunteers (MCERV). He said he's seen the toll the pandemic continues to take on health care workers.

Piper and co-organizer Monte Diegel, 911 administrator with the Mercer County Sheriff's office, decided it was time to host another event to support workers during the pandemic.

"Zach and I have been working (on) this thing together and it is going to be a very great Mercer County salute to our health care workers," Diegel said in a text prior to the event.

Community Hospital has stayed as busy as ever due to an increase in COVID-19, influenza and other medical issues, Piper said.

Mercer Health chief nursing officer and vice president of patient care services Susan Miller on Wednesday said hospitalizations had spiked to their highest levels since the pandemic began two years ago. The hospital reached surge capacity on Tuesday, which means hospital staff had to expand emergency room capacity into other patient care spaces that would not be used for such care under normal circumstances, she said. Longterm care facilities across the state hit with staffing shortages and high patient volume also are having problems admitting patients, Miller had said.

One of the biggest changes to this year's light up event is the donation of more than 510 meals to the entire Mercer Health staff at various locations.

The meals of sub sandwiches, chips and cookies were given to staff on all shifts, Piper said. MCERV also delivered meals to employees at Mercer Health locations in Celina, Fort Recovery, New Bremen, St. Henry and a few independent offices, he said.

Piper said the meals were possible due to donations from the Mercer County Sheriff's office, EMS branches, area fire departments, Hague Towing and others.

"I feel like last year was totally new and special, and I feel this year is just as special," Piper said. "I feel like it's going to be just as good."

As of Wednesday, Mercer County had a cumulative 7,534 cases and 121 deaths from COVID-19 since the pandemic began nearly two years ago.