Fall River Mayor Paul Coogan held a ceremony to issue a proclamation in honor of National Nurses Week. The event specifically recognized the South Coast Nurse Honor Guard, a volunteer organization that honors the lives and services of nurses. Mayor Coogan read the proclamation, which designated May 6th through the 12th, 2026 as Nurses Week and February 12th as Florence Nightingale Day in the city of Fall River. The proclamation highlighted the vital role of nurses and the specific work of the South Coast Nurse Honor Guard, which provides dignified ceremonies for deceased nurses and living tributes for those in hospice or palliative care. Darlene Tetro, the President and Founder of the South Coast Nurse Honor Guard, accepted the proclamation and spoke about the organization's mission. She described nursing as a lifelong calling and explained that the Honor Guard provides a final call to duty, similar to honors given to military and first responders. Tetro shared that the organization was founded after a tragic accident involving a co-worker and has grown through community outreach, social media, and word of mouth, recently adding 15 to 20 new members. She emphasized the community's respect for service and thanked the Mayor and the city for the recognition.
AI-generated summary. May contain errors. Watch the video to verify.
Council
Public / Other
So, welcome everybody. Um, obviously we're here to acknowledge the South Coast Honor Guard for our nurses. Uh, we have a proclamation from the city of Fall River. This is nurses week. Uh, and today is Florence Night andale day. So, I'll read the proclamation. Uh, this is a great group that does a lot of great community work and we want to acknowledge their efforts in the city of
0:21Fall River. Whereas nurses play a vital role in the health, safety, and well-being of our communities, providing compassionate care, advocacy, and support to individuals and families across all stages of life.
0:35And National Nurses Week is celebrated annually from the 6th through the 12th, culminating on the birthday of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing.
0:45And whereas Florence Nightingale's legacy continues to inspire generations of nurses through her commitment to service, excellence, compassionate care, and whereas the South Coast Honor Guard, who joined us today, is a dedicated volunteer organization that honors the lives and services of nurses through dignified treatment ceremonies at the time of their death, including the n the traditional night and gale tribute,
1:13symbolically releasing the nurse from in their professional duties. And the South Coast Nurse Honor Guard also provides living tributes to nurses receiving hospice or palative care, ensuring they are recognized and honored during their lifetime.
1:30And whereas the work of the South Coast Nurse Honor Guard reflects the highest ideals of service, respect, community spirit, offering comfort to families, and preserving the legacy of the nursing profession. So therefore, I, Paul Coogan, mayor of the city of Forever, do hereby proclaim May 6th through the 12th, 2026 as Nurses Week and February 12th as Florence Nightingale day in recognition of the
2:00valuable contributions of nurses and those who honor them. I encourage all of our residents to recognize and celebrate the dedication, compassion, and service of nurses in our community. And I want to thank them for joining us here today for this very special day and acknowledge their great work in the city of Fall River. And I'm going to turn it over to a friend of mine right now, Darlene Tetro. Will I give her the
2:23citation?
2:24And congratulations to your entire group. Darlene, put your papers down.
2:30Thank you very much.
2:34Go ahead.
2:45Good morning everyone. My name is Darlene Tetro and I am the president founder of the South Coast Nurse Honor Guard. On behalf of our organization, I want to sincerely thank Mayor Coogan and the city of Fall River for this incredible honor and recognition.
3:01Receiving this proclamation during National Nurses Week makes this especially meaningful to all of us.
3:08Nursing is more than a profession. It is a lifelong calling rooted in compassion, dignity, service, and sacrifice. The South Coast Nurse Honor Guard was created to ensure that nurses are honored at the time of their passing through the night and gale tribute, ceremony, and final call to duty. Much like honors given to our military, police, fire, and service members, it is a way of officially releasing a
3:36nurse from their earthly duties by recognizing a lifetime of care, compassion, and dedication to others. In addition, we are honored to provide living tributes for nurses receiving hospice or pallet of care along and allowing them to be recognized, celebrated, and thanked and surrounded by their loved ones. This mission would not be possible without the dedicated volunteer nurses who give their time,
4:04their hearts, their compassion to the grieving families throughout Massachusetts and Rhode Island. I am incredibly proud of the amazing nurses who stand beside me in this mission.
4:17I also want to thank the local community healthc care organizations, hospitals, vet advocates, hospice, pallet of care teams, funeral homes, and local media outlets who have helped support our mission and bring awareness to the importance of honoring nurses in this special way. As a community, Fall River has always respected service, whether military service, nursing service, or public service, and we are proud to
4:44continue that tradition. We are deeply humbled by the support we have received, including the recent proclamation and citation from Governor Mora Healey's office, and we are proud to represent the city of Fall River and the South Coast community.
5:03Thank you again for recognizing the South Coast Nurse Honor Guard and lasting legacy of nurses everywhere. We are honored to serve nurses and their families with dignity, compassion, and respect. Thank you for believing in our mission. And again, thank you, Mayor Kan. Appreciate it. Thank you so much for coming today.
5:32So thank you.
5:34Thank you very much.
5:39May we ask you a quick question, Mr.
5:41Please tell us about the history. Do other communities have such an organization?
5:46Yes, there's a roughly about maybe now 250 chapters throughout the country.
5:54How did you hear about it and say we need this?
5:58Unfortunately, one of my co-workers was killed in a tragic accident at work and my director um at the time working in the emergency room had asked me if I can help my co-workers and um colleagues possibly with some grief and help them out with support. Um and I came across the nurse honor guard as I was trying to do that. So, we honored her and did a small tribute. At the time, we weren't
6:24even a group yet. It was me, myself, and I. So, um, that was really nice to do that. So, once I was able to start this chap chapter and spearhead this at the South Coast, I figure this is something the community definitely needs.
6:38How did you get younger women and men right involved because we need the younger generation.
6:44Community outreach such as things like this. We've been in the parade. We've been in the Veterans Day parade, the Memorial Day parade, um, social media.
6:54We have a South Coast honor guard page.
6:57Uh word of mouth when people see our tributes that we do um they reach out to us. Since the um proclamation, my phone has been ringing off the hook and my emails have been like so for the last two days on Mother's Day. That's what I did. I was reaching out to other nurses and speaking with them about their life experience and their career and from all walks of life and they're so happy to
7:23join us. So within the last I'd say two weeks uh 15 to 20 will be joining us. So that's unbelievable for getting community outreach. Thank you.
7:33Tell me a little bit please about being a nurse. It's like a police officer.
7:37It's more than just a job, right?
7:38Firefighter. What about the men and women that choose to be nurses?
7:43Um again I think that you it is um something that um how can I say it? It's it's not a job. Um, it's a calling. So, honestly, I started in EMS. So, my heart started with EMS first and then I went up through um through nursing. So, I just can't say enough about helping people and um you just we just have a lot to bring to the table.