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Some must work on holiday

Trooper Jamhal Simon of the Butler barracks will be on the job Thursday. He said he volunteered for the assignment since other troopers have young families.

While most people are enjoying the company of friends, family and good food on Thanksgiving Day, emergency workers are on duty and ready to respond to any situation.

Here is a look at what it will be like for those people on Thursday, when they're on the job.

EMSResponding to emergency and medical calls on Thanksgiving Day is old hat for Joanna Belles, Brian Franksain and Tom Buttyan of Butler Ambulance Service. They've been doing it nearly every year for a decade, as part of a team of 14 people who will work during the day on the holiday.The service staffs its stations with 12 hour shifts each day, and that doesn't change over Thanksgiving, said Franksain, who is a paramedic and assistant shift supervisor. They never know which way the day is going to break, he said.“This is one of those monsters that could be one way or the other,” he said.Paramedics and EMTs at the service have a steadfast tradition for any holiday: They cook dinner, have a meal, and keep things light-hearted.“This job's serious enough. We try to have as much fun as we can,” said Buttyan, who is a paramedic and the shift supervisor. “Basically we have a family dinner. I have 14 members of my family here.”Buttyan and other crew members sign up to cook or bring in foods to create a Thanksgiving Day feast. One of the favorites is chocolate chip cheesecake made by Franksain's wife, and the crew also springs for designer coffee that day rather than their normal brew.Buttyan said the tradition began with him and Chuck Cooper, a previous supervisor at the service who died about five years ago.

Belles said that churches and individuals also often stop by to deliver food of their own, and thank crew members for working during the holiday. That's one of the few things crew members can count on in a job that changes every day.The service, which fields 70 to 80 calls per day, never knows what to expect Belles said — Thanksgiving included.“Every day's different,” she said.<b>State police</b>For the Pennsylvania State Police Thanksgiving is a “premium holiday,” said Trooper Dan Keston, which means that all non-essential personnel have the day off.That doesn't include patrol troopers like Jamhal Simon, who came to the Butler barracks two months ago out of the state police academy. Simon will be out on patrol this Thursday, working an all-day shift.Simon, who is a U.S. Air Force veteran, volunteered for the duty assignment.“Since I'm one of the younger guys, and I don't have family like most guys, it don't bother me none,” Simon said.He said he volunteered knowing how important holidays with his family were to him when he was younger. Simon said he's volunteered to work every holiday shift this year.“Family's big. A lot of guys here have younger daughters, sons, and I remember growing up how big that was for me,” he said.In fact, Simon said, this Thanksgiving will mark the first time in several years that he'll get to see his family — four sisters and his mother who live in the Youngstown, Ohio, area — at all. So he sees the arrangement as a win-win.For the past three Thanksgivings Simon has been on active deployment in the Air Force at postings in New Mexico, Kuwait and Africa. This year, despite his daylong shift, Simon will still get to make the 50-minute drive to see his family.“It's just nice being in the states,” Simon said.The barracks doesn't have any real Thanksgiving Day traditions, Keston said, but troopers do have an informal Thanksgiving-style meal before the holiday.Simon said the department doesn't see a big increase in crime or vehicle incidents on Thanksgiving, but troopers make a point of stepping up enforcement anyway.“Everyone's just trying to get to their family, and you don't want to be that guy,” Simon said. “But at the same time you've got to make sure everybody's still obeying the rules of the commonwealth.”<b>911 emergency center</b>For police, fire and EMS personnel to get to emergency situations, they have to know about where they're going and what they're walking into. That's the job of dispatchers like Chris Fessides, a part-time paramedic who works at the county's 911 call center.Fessides will be part of the center's 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. shift Thursday. He said the center doesn't have any holiday traditions that he's aware of.“I think we're all on our own,” he said.

Fessides has been working as a county dispatcher since 2012, but this will be his first Thanksgiving manning the phones for emergency responders.He doesn't expect anything out of the ordinary on Thanksgiving Day, and hasn't heard any stories of outrageous happenings from other dispatchers.“It all depends; there's always a possibility, but I haven't heard any horror stories,” he said. “I'm hoping for slow.”As a part-time paramedic, Fessides is used to working on holidays. This year, despite having to work on Thanksgiving, his post as a dispatcher rather than a paramedic means Fessides actually has a chance to make it home for family dinner.He and his wife are planning on having dinner with family Thursday night.“I don't mind it (working on holidays),” Fessides said. “I don't have any children so I usually work a lot of the holidays. It's not that big of a deal.”City fire departmentAs the only paid fire department in the county, Butler firefighters are always on duty. That doesn't change on Thanksgiving Day, when a four-man crew will be on duty at the city's fire station.If there's a tradition at the department, said Capt. Tom Fair, it's everyone pulling together to make sure each firefighter gets to enjoy Thanksgiving.“No one ever gets absolutely stuck here, where they can't get home to eat with their family,” Fair said.Firefighters at the department always work 24-hour shifts, and that doesn't change on Thanksgiving, said Chief Nick Ban.Crews usually rotate holiday shift duty each year but this year Fair and firefighter Mike Huey, who both worked Thanksgiving Day last year, will be on duty again this Thursday.Huey, who has two young children, said most people don't realize that firefighters don't have to choose between their family and their job.“I've never missed a holiday, a Christmas with them (my kids),” Huey said. “They're 2 and 3 (years old) so we don't have any traditions worked out just yet.”Fair, who has been a member of the department for 27 years, said the biggest trend he sees during the holiday season is churches and other firefighters dropping in to deliver food and good wishes to the firefighters staffing the station that day.In the past the department also has brought in firefighters' entire families for a sit-down meal, said firefighter Jonathan Feicht.Feicht, who worked Thanksgiving last year, will be deep frying a turkey at home this year.“There might be some left to bring in,” to the guys on duty, he joked.Firefighters say that in the past crews have cooked their own Thanksgiving dinner on-station, but it's a difficult task to undertake with the possibility of a call going out at any time.Ban said the department is averaging about 10 calls per day this year, and doesn't see any particular increase on holidays — though Fair said cold weather naturally means more chimney fires and other flare-ups, from things like space heaters, at homes.“Wintertime seems like it's the worst” for fire calls, Fair said.

Part of the Butler Ambulance Service crew for Thanksgiving Day includes Tim Iman, Ange Bagwell, Renee Summerville, Hal Schneider, James Dickey, Joanna Belles, Brian Franksain and Tom Buttyan.
Butler City firefighters Tom Fair, Jonathan Feicht, Michael Huey and Don Crawford. Crews will be manningthe fi re station during the holiday Thursday.

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