BOARDMAN — After grabbing a warm lunch, Erin O’Driscoll asked the man behind the table if she could get a quick selfie with him to add to her social media page.

A paramedic with Lane LifeTrans for nine years, O’Driscoll was one of a handful first responders Thursday who received a free lunch from Washington Prime Group, which manages the Southern Park Mall.

“It’s kind of cool everyone’s reaching out … appreciating what we do,” she said.

Brian Gabbert, general manager, said the effort is what Washington Prime is doing to show appreciation to first responders.

Between noon and 1 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday, free lunches were handed out to first responders.

Gabbert said the response from first reponders has been gratitude.

“We’re just trying to help out where we can,” he said.

To expand its help in the community during the coronavirus pandemic, Gabbert said Washington Prime has set up a box near the food court entry of the mall where people can add nonperishable items and toiletries for the Salvation Army.

Donations can be dropped off daily noon to 5 p.m.

“We’ve got this great space; we’ve got this great location,” he said.

A blood drive also is scheduled for April 21, Gabbert said.

O’Driscoll said that the call volume lately hasn’t been as busy.

The calls that first responders have experienced relating to the virus, however, are severe because people are waiting until they are extremely sick to seek medical attention.

She said call a doctor at the first signs of COVID-19, who can then direct a patient on what to do or when to go to a hospital.

For those experiencing symptoms, “especially if you start to get short of breath,” O’Driscoll said call a doctor.

She also said that people should not be in groups.

“The stay-at-home order is pretty serious,” she said, adding the more people stay home, the faster the virus may be over.

O’Driscoll stressed that people should not go to stores as a leisure activity.Usually, first responders are the people who run into situations others wouldn’t normally think to, O’Driscoll said.

With the pandemic, she said they know they are not invincible, and they are afraid of bringing the virus home to families.

“We’re doing our part; we’re self-quarantining to our households,” she said, also noting she changes clothes after shifts and does not wear shoes home.

Besides trying to implement guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control, O’Driscoll said other guidelines are followed at home as her fiance also is a first responder.

The household conversation has been shifted toward safety, although there are rules about what they can and don’t talk about at the dinner table.

Typically, when O’Driscoll is off duty, she is a photographer.

As wedding season normally would start revving up, this year brides are cancelling or postponing weddings, leaving O’Driscoll’s business “kaboshed.”

To keep photography in her routine, O’Driscoll has been documenting her travels, such as when she picked up the lunch from the mall.

When the community shows its thanks, she said, “I think it’s awesome.”