Arizona Living

John Berger no longer shows up at accidents, fires and family scuffles with sirens blasting and lights flashing.

And the Surprise resident, retired from law enforcement in Virginia, wouldn't want it any other way.

Berger, 66, a member of the Surprise Fire Department's crisis-response team, has learned that the aftermath of an emergency can be as devastating to those involved, and even to bystanders, as what happens during it. A gentle response is what's needed.

"When we arrive on the scene," he said, "100 percent of the time people are happy to see us. When I was in law enforcement, that wasn't the case."

His "customers" these days, he said, include the older woman home alone after her husband suffered a heart attack, the child whose toys and clothes were destroyed in a house fire and the abused woman who needed a referral to a shelter.

Berger, a three-year volunteer for the crisis-response team, shows up after Surprise firefighters and police have dealt with the immediate crisis.

Volunteers carry coloring books, bandages and flip-flops. Berger also carries a lockbox to secure people's valuables and phone numbers of companies and agencies often needed in dire times - insurance companies, mental-health organizations, hospital social workers, food-delivery programs, mortuaries and animal-rescue groups.

There's even a box of dog biscuits in the crisis-response team's van.

Last year, Berger, one of about 60 volunteers on Surprise's team, put in more than 1,300 hours helping people put their lives back in order.

"It's just the right thing to do," he said. "I've been very blessed in my life. When you walk out the door after responding to a crisis, you know the people have really benefited from your visit. They appreciate it when a kindness is shown to them, and it makes you feel good."

Reach the reporter at 602-444-8120 or connie.midey@arizonarepublic.com.