Christmas ‘just like any other day’ for St John
CHRISTMAS is just like any other day for the crew at St John’s Ambulance.
The team remains fully staffed night and day throughout the holidays and they often sacrifice time with their families to serve the community’s needs.
Paramedic Daniel Jehan and emergency medical technician Ben Barling will both be on duty on Christmas Day. Mr Barling said the team will try to have a big Christmas breakfast or buffet together, but the unpredictable nature of the job means food and celebrations may have to wait.
‘Often we speculate about bringing in some board or card games and watching some TV together on Christmas Day, but in truth our daily average workload means this is unlikely to happen,’ said Mr Jehan.
‘Instead we will endeavour to have a big cooked breakfast together, if possible, before things start to get busy. It is impossible to predict, but based on experience and previous years we could see at least one patient every hour.’
Mr Barling said he and his colleagues never go hungry. Around the holidays in particular, he said, the team is grateful for all the chocolates and food donations that members of the public and local businesses give.
‘Chocolate can really cheer us up,’ he said.
Jim Cathcart, St John’s communications officer, said many of the staff at St John feel like they have two families – one at home and an extended work family.
‘We all work in teams with the same group of people and spend 48 hours together every four days all year round,’ said Mr Jehan.
‘This means your colleagues are more like family members. We know each other well and do our best to keep everyone feeling festive, especially when they are away from children or relatives. Over Christmas, if we get a chance to have a cup of tea and chat or a joke we take those moments as a grace, but we are always ready to leap out to the community. But equally we enjoy downtime and celebrating Christmas with our work family.’
Mr Barling said the sacrifices that come with the job feel irrelevant when he can do something to help people in the community.
‘It is rewarding and we feel we are making a bit of difference. Helping the community at their time of need is what gets me out of bed in the morning and although I think of my family at this time, I also think of others and my family understands that,’ said Mr Barling.
