Watch: First Responders Salute LA Nurses For National Nurses Day

LOS ANGELES, CA — At a time when nurses are risking their lives just by doing their jobs and cash-strapped hospitals are cutting pay and furloughing staffers, Angelenos are finding ways to show their gratitude on National Nurses Day.

Hundreds of police officers, firefighters, sheriff's deputies and other first responders paraded past Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Wednesday with sirens blaring and lights flashing in a show of support for health care workers on National Nurses Day. Another parade will drive past Valley Presbyterian Hospital at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday with the Van Nuys division of the Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles Fire Department Station 39 saluting nurses there. The parades are among several efforts to thank nurses amid social distancing.

Similar tributes were planned at other medical centers across the Southland to recognize health care workers on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. Residents appreciative of the work nurses do can join the parades from home by posting their thanks on social media or displaying banners or signs at their homes., city officials said.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and actor Mark Wahlberg visited nurses at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, delivering hundreds of meals for the hospital staff.

"The smallest thing that we are doing, whether it's lighting up City Hall blue, or it's a day like this that we celebrate is so important to the souls and the spirit of our city, because they run through our nurses," Garcetti said. "... I want to thank what you do every single day. It doesn't take COVID-19 for you to be outpouring love to the people who need it most."

At Cedars-Sinai. representatives from various law enforcement agencies and fire departments took part in the tribute, which brought hundreds of workers outside the hospital to watch the spectacle, all wearing masks and waving as the parade passed by.

At the hospital's entrance, first responders -- also wearing masks -- gathered for pictures with the health care workers and other hospital employees. The crowd cheered as a law enforcement helicopter circled overhead.

"This is amazing. The support from the fire department, the police department, from the community, thank you. It means the world to us," one nurse told KTLA5 during the event.

"We're very blessed," another said. "This is overwhelming."

The procession of first responders began at Santa Monica and La Cienega boulevard and moved through West Hollywood, passing multiple medical centers along the way, before arriving at Cedars-Sinai. Another procession is expected to be held along the same route at 7:15 p.m.

"We have all of our first responders out here paying homage to the people who are really doing the work day-to-day, which is our hospital workers," West Hollywood Mayor John D'Amico told Channel 5. "... Today is National Nurses Day, so we wanted to surprise them, but this is really something that's been in the works for a few days now. ... This is really a tribute to those people who are doing all the hard work."

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.