The people working on Christmas Day to keep rest of us safe
From emergency services like the Wales Air Ambulance and the RNLI to charity workers with the RSPCA, there are some amazing people sacrificing their Christmas to make sure the rest of us are safe. Rob Dalling spoke to just some of those working tomorrow...
■ Helimeds will be waiting in the wings For Wales Air Ambulance Christmas is very much a “normal day” at work but with an extra bit of festive sparkle and camaraderie. Among their staff will be critical care allocator Rebecca Cann, who said spending the day with colleagues is like being with a second family.
She said: “We are with a family, although it might not be our family at home. Our work family is like a family and we are there to make sure the day becomes the best day it can for everybody and help people where we are able to.
“Working Christmas Day is like any other day. We have to be alert and on top form every day of the year and hopefully, by us being there, we can turn what might be the worst day of somebody’s life into a better outcome. The Christmas period can be a busy time for us. There are lots of celebrations ongoing, lots of people riding bikes that they haven’t ridden before and falling off them, so please celebrate but please be safe.
“We are celebrating Christmas on December 19 this year, when I am off – much to my children’s delight as they get to open their presents a week early. It is something we have done for the last 11 years since we’ve had children. They are used to it but they are proud because they know that people need help every day of the year. My favourite thing about Christmas is the run-up to Christmas. I like the feeling that seems to surround the season. Everything seems a little bit more twinkly and the coming together of friends and family, be it on Christmas Day or any other day if you’re working like we do in the emergency services.”
Co-pilot Edward Terry said: “It will start with a crew brief. We will get the helicopter ready, and once we are set then we must be available for tasking from then on, so the same as every other day, really. We might have a little celebration, here and there, but it will be pretty much the same.
“The weather can really affect where we fly – we have got to look out for low cloud and low visibility. We’ve got to think about icy conditions, so wintertime it can be quite cold.
“My favourite thing about Christmas is spending it with family. Obviously when you are on shift you are getting to spend it with your work family, as you could call it. Spending time together is the best part about Christmas.
“I have been a pilot for 10 years and a commercial pilot for five years. My proudest moment is starting to work for the Wales Air Ambulance. It’s a job I have always wanted to do and to be able to do it is a lifelong dream and achievement, so my proudest moment is becoming co-pilot here at Cardiff – especially with the 24-hour operation. It’s a really good job.
“When we are working nights we have got to look out for Santa on his sleigh. Keeping a good lookout is a crew responsibility so everyone in the aircraft will look out for Santa to make sure he has his navigation lights on and we are not going to hit him when we are landing. Keeping a good lookout is priority.”
Critical care practitioner Mike Palmer said: “A typical day would be a standard day as normal. We’ll come in, get our uniform on, and sort out our kit. Then we’ll prepare the aircraft and the rapid-response vehicle so we are ready for the next mission.
“When I’ve worked Christmas Day in the past and when I work Christmas Day in the future, I normally celebrate Christmas Day a couple of days before with family, friends, and loved ones so we have the normal day having presents and food.”
■ Looking after animals in need RSPCA Newport animal centre manager Nikki Tutton said she has worked many Christmases over the last 26 years. She works where animals are kept safely in the hands of dedicated staff and volunteers who are providing them with love and care until they can find their much-needed forever homes.
She said: “As a centre manager it is part of my responsibility alongside the deputy manager to provide the 24-hour cover required. Christmas Day is always joyful. We often have extra volunteers ready to help to do all the cleaning and to ensure every dog gets a little walk and playtime. The dogs and cats even get their own turkey cooked by the staff. Presents are given out by the animal care team. These are suitable toys and treats donated by our wonderful supporters. The dogs especially have a great time tearing off the wrapping paper.
“The team starts their working day an hour early and are then able to get
home in time to have some Christmas dinner and time with their family and own pets. The duty manager remains on site in case of an emergency.”
RSPCA deputy chief inspector Gemma Black and animal rescue officer Sian Burton will also both be working tomorrow. Ms Burton, who has worked for the charity for 17 years, has clocked up around 10 Christmas Day shifts over the years, while Ms Black has worked for the animal welfare charity for 15 years.
Ms Black said: “I’ve been very lucky as this is only my third Christmas Day to work. I am hoping it’ll be quiet and that all the animals out there will stay safe but it’s reassuring to know that we will be there to help anything that becomes sick or injured or any animal welfare emergencies that might come on that day.”
■ Keeping us safe at sea
Will Chant officially joined the RNLI St Davids crew on Christmas Eve 1996, which means this year will mark his 26th year on the crew at Christmas, although this will be his first as the 16th coxswain at the station. It is something of a family affair for Mr Chant, whose brother, Mike, is full-time mechanic, and whose father, Dai, was the 13th coxswain. It means as a family they’ve had much experience of enjoying present unwrapping and Christmas dinner with the pager sitting nearby.
The 43-year-old said: “I was 25 and a half years as a volunteer but this is my first Christmas as the coxswain. My predecessor retired and I’ve come in and taking on the vacancy he left behind. Hopefully Christmas Day will be like most of my other Christmases.
“We’ll be working right up until Christmas, carrying on with training and station admin as we always do, making sure we keep the service operational 24/7. My role is basically being in command of the boat when it is afloat. We take an operational crew of seven and the coxswain is in charge of the safety of the boat and its crew.
“If my life goes as planned I won’t be attending the station – I’ll be with my wife Lotte and my son Harri who is 12.
“The plan is to have a nice quiet Christmas Day. We’ll get up, do our presents, have a nice breakfast, go for a walk – hopefully it’ll be cool and frosty – and go round check on our animals. We’ve got some horses. I’ll pop and see my dad, who used to be the coxswain before me, and my mum, and then it’ll be back home by lunch and spend the day with my family playing games and the new presents and having a Christmas dinner, all being well.
“This year has been our busiest year on record. We’ve done 41 shouts for the year and our previous record was 26. ”
■ Keeping law and order
Emma Jones is a supervisor within South Wales Police’s public service centre in Bridgend. She will be in charge of managing the reports which come in on Christmas Day and ensuring the adequate resource gets assigned to each call that comes in. Working the most festive day of the year will be nothing new for her as she has worked “the majority” of them during her time working there.
“It’s the job I applied for,” she said. “I’ll be working from noon until 10pm. Pretty much my day is work. I will see my family in the morning before I go to work but we’re a family used to working shifts.
“For Christmas Day my dad will go to my sister’s and I’ll catch up with them on another day – it’s what we’re used to. My sister works in the public service centre as well, but works different shift patterns to me so is on a day off.”
Ms Jones, 47, of Maesteg, plans to put a dinner together for her family between Christmas and New Year – in particular for her dad. And there will be a special effort to make sure spirits are up among her team who will be working on the day.
She said: “It’s about trying to keep morale up whilst you’re in work. In previous years the supervisors have put money together and bought people a little something for Christmas Day so there’s a bit of fun in the room and they feel appreciated. This year I suggested we did advent calendars for the team as a gesture and it was received really well. It’s your work family and when you’re spending 10 hours of your day with them on a critical date you want them to feel, even though they’re missing out with their loved ones, that the environment is as nice as it can be on the day.”
■ Making sure the elderly and those in need are fed
Eilish Horan is a driver for the Meals on Wheels service for Cardiff council. She’ll be working tomorrow with eight of her colleagues delivering meals to the elderly and vulnerable.
The 27-year-old, from the capital’s Roath suburb, said: “Christmas Day we’ll aim to deliver our meals between 11.30am and 2pm. We’ll be doing our normal turkey dinner with all the trimmings. We’ve got roughly around 200 meals which we’ll all be delivering through the day. There will be nine of us working on the day. I’m one of the newest here – I’ve been here for about four months.
“We visit the elderly, vulnerable adults, people with learning difficulties and mental health issues. A lot of people are without families and it’s nice to go in and do the usual welfare check. If we didn’t go in or carers they may not get a chance to see anyone else on Christmas Day. We try to spend as much time with them as we can.
“I’ll be going to work and then straight to see my dad for a little while, then going over to my mum’s for Christmas Day. She does the best gravy.”