You can call them if your house is on fire. You can call them if your neighbor is playing his music too loud. You can call them if your son wrecks his dirt bike.

Just don't call them the weaker sex.

Unlike years past, women can be found working at more and more police stations, fire halls and ambulance services around the United States, and Butler County is no exception.

Three women working at traditionally male-dominated jobs have several things in common, including their impression of the special traits only a woman could bring to the scene of an emergency.

"In a frantic situation, females can calm things in a different way than males can," said Betsy Dispennett, a pre-hospital registered nurse who is a firefighter for Cranberry Volunteer Fire Department and is a paramedic for Harmony EMS and Cranberry Volunteer Ambulance Corps.

Dispennett's regular job is in the emergency department at UPMC Passavant Hospital in McCandless Township, Allegheny County.

Emergency services are in Dispennett's blood, as her father has served as a volunteer firefighter for 30 years, the last six of those years in Zelienople.

"I remember going to the fire house when I was little and sitting in the trucks," said Dispennett of Cranberry Township. "I guess I've been addicted ever since."

While many female firefighters conduct the important administrative tasks at the scene of a fire, Dispennett actually enters the burning building. Her first fire call was at age 18, when Pool Nation on Route 19 in Zelienople burned down in December 1999."The intensity of being in the fire is so much greater than in the movies," said Dispennett. "But I admit I love that look I get when I take off my helmet and (firefighters from other stations) see that I'm a girl."Dispennett said people often ask her why she would throw herself into such dangerous situations, especially as a volunteer."It's a rewarding feeling," said Dispennett. "That's the only way I can describe it."Cranberry Township police officer Rhonda Rearick, the only female officer in that department, agrees with Dispennett regarding the specific attributes a woman can bring to an emergency."Women are more caring and sensitive in dealing with criminals, I think," said Rearick.She has served on the Cranberry force for nearly four years, and served in the Mars Police Department for eight years prior to that. She got into emergency services as an emergency medical technician with the West Deer Volunteer Fire Company, which she joined at age 16."Because I knew them from calls, I rode around with the police officers back then," said Rearick. "I guess that's how I got started in law enforcement."Rearick said the only barrier she has faced as a female police officer is earning the respect from male officers that is automatically given to new male officers. She said now, her colleagues don't treat her any differently than any other officer.

Rearick has learned to laugh off girl-cop remarks from the public."Aside from the 'you can arrest me anytime' comments, I've never had anyone give me a hard time when I'm arresting them," said Rearick. "The reason for that is I treat them like I would want to be treated."On the Cranberry force, Rearick specializes in vehicle accident investigation, crime prevention and the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program, which she teaches at schools.Rearick said she and a male officer often present the DARE program to kindergartners, most of whom visualize a man when they think of a police officer. She appreciates communicating to the youngest students that women can be "policemen" too."When the little girls say 'I want to be a police officer too,' that's pretty neat," said Rearick.Fifth grade DARE students, on the other hand, don't bat an eye when she arrives in her uniform."They just accept it," she said.One emergency service field that has long boasted women among its ranks is pre-hospital emergency medicine. Field paramedic Nancy Brice, 62, began her career as an emergency medical technician with the Petrolia Volunteer Fire Department in 1980.Today, Brice of Petrolia is the director at Mars EMS, which has six full-time and six part-time employees, and nine volunteers. It operates two Advanced Life Support ambulances.Brice said women bring compassion, caring and understanding to the scene of a medical emergency or accident."I think we are gentler in our approach," said Brice.She said an equal number of men and women volunteer EMTs existed when she started her career at Petrolia Volunteer Fire Department.She said at that time, women were more available to respond to an emergency because fewer worked outside the home. Now, said Brice, the pre-hospital emergency medical field is viewed more as a profession than something done on the side as a volunteer."I think it's going to go even more that way," said Brice.Many women who choose to go into the field work at a hospital or doctor's office, both of which offer stable compensation and benefits, said Brice. It is also less physically demanding than working for an ambulance service, but Brice has no plans to seek out a cushier paramedic position."I'll retire when I can get too old to get up and go," said the bubbly Brice. "I can't picture doing anything else."