Twenty-seven years ago we rushed my four-month-old daughter to emergency on Christmas Day. She had developed a high fever during the night and had serious diarrhea. It was a nightmare.
Hospital staff quickly assessed the situation, brought the temperature down to normal and released her within four hours. We breathed our first sigh of relief.
Our instructions were not to feed the baby for 24 hours. Instead, nursing staff advised us to buy Pedialyte, an oral electrolyte solution designed to replace fluids and minerals when a child is vomiting or has diarrhea.
Since it was Christmas Day, virtually everything was on shutdown. My husband spent two hours phoning and scouring Edmonton pharmacies until he found one open on Jasper Ave. We breathed a second sigh of relief.
From that day, I have always given a small prayer of thanks to individuals who take time out of this special festive day to bring comfort to our lives.
Since our first understanding of Santa Claus as children, Christmas Day is one of the most special events of the year. People who never go to church pack the pews and then go home to rip open presents and tuck into a groaning table of food.
But as we sleep off our heavy meal, millions of Canadians will be on the job – doctors, taxi drivers, waiters, hotel maids, news anchors, pilots, tow truck drivers, chefs, security guards and senior care attendants to name a few.
The list is surprisingly long. For some, it's mandated. For others it's part of their scheduling cycle. Still others volunteer to put in an extra shift.
On a day when most businesses are shut down, the St. Albert Gazette would like to salute the people that provide a service on Dec. 25 to make our lives more stress-free.
Lt. Dave Whalen
Firefighter and Paramedic
Fire Hall No. 3
Working Christmas Day is simply "the luck of the draw" says firefighter Dave Whalen. But he doesn't mind.
"It's a good job. I like it. I like the camaraderie between our second family as the crew calls it. And I like being able to help people," said Whalen, a 28-year industry veteran.
"And the community is so supportive. In the week before Christmas, people drop off chocolates and baked goods."
For Christmas Day the crew buys groceries and prepares a hearty brunch.
"It's a casual day. It's a typical day of training and hopefully we don't get any calls. But when we get calls, hopefully we can mitigate the situation."
As both a lieutenant and acting captain, Whalen is in charge of a rescue unit handling the ladder truck.
In his nearly three-decade career, the St. Albert resident has worked many Christmases. Although Whalen has never been summoned to a fire, he will attend to 12 to 15 of the more common calls.
"People get chest pains or they get indigestion and they're not sure if it's a cardiac problem. We get choking calls and partial airway obstruction. There's the general malaise calls with seniors not feeling well and sometimes people overload their electrical system."
As for the family Christmas, the Whalens celebrated on Dec. 22 with three of their five children and a table loaded with turkey, ham, perogies, cabbage rolls and all the trimmings.
To add a bit of zest to Christmas, the Whalens hide a pickle decoration in the tree.
"The first one to find the pickle gets to start the gift opening."
Whalen's last words were heartfelt.
"We wish everybody a happy and safe holiday season from the St. Albert Fire Department."
Carlie Brown
Kennel Attendant
Barkers Pet Motel
Carlie Brown is one of those gentle folk who is in her element working with animals.
"I've always loved dogs, but working here makes it more interesting. Here we feed and give medications. And I would rather be with pets than a person," said Brown, a first-year animal health technology student at NAIT.
Her Christmas Day shift is the same as last year's – 3 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
"I make sure everybody gets fed and since I'm the person on this shift that's been here the longest, I help with rotating the dogs, taking care of meals and making sure everybody is clean and happy."
Pets are boarded at Barkers during the holiday season for various reasons. People own hyper pets that don't do well in social settings or they are travelling outside the community to visit family and friends.
On Christmas Day morning, the morning shift feeds a full house of about 90 dogs and 15 cats with a yummy turkey breakfast cooked on Christmas Eve and served with veggies and doggie friendly gravy.
In the afternoon, Brown takes presents left by owners for their pets and unwraps them and goes from kennel to kennel with a treat bucket.
"They get a lot of treats at Christmas," she says breaking into a smile.
With school and holiday pressures, the kennels become Brown's stress therapy.
"I like the environment. It's very calm even though there are 90-some dogs. I love being with dogs and when I'm here, my stress level goes away."
Her personal Christmas celebrations are similar to a split shift. In the morning stockings are emptied and presents opened. Even Bella, the Brown's eight-year-old English mastiff receives her share.
After her shift, Brown is joining the family for Christmas festivities at her aunt's house, but she doesn't mind missing out on the early portion of the party.
"I don't have to deal with the cooking, and everyone feels bad I worked so I don't have to do the clean up. It's great."
Devon Brown
Dispatcher
St. Albert Taxi
As most of St. Albert is spending Christmas Day with loved ones, newly employed dispatcher Devon Brown has nabbed a 12-hour shift at St. Albert Taxi.
The 2014 St. Albert Catholic High grad is working the 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. shift fielding a variety of needs from airport calls to people visiting hospitals.
"People call me a natural (dispatcher.) It's probably because I used to deliver pizzas for Panago and Nitza's, and it generally gave me a good layout of St. Albert and northwest Edmonton," said Brown (no relation to Carlie Brown).
In the last two years Brown has lived at Rocky Mountain House and travelled to Ontario holding down a variety of jobs as a labourer, sandwich maker and warehouse worker.
But with a fiancée and a three-month-old baby boy named Cyrus, Brown is determined to become a good provider and an even better parent.
Christmases haven't always been jolly for him. Last year, he lost a job due to illness.
"My hours were overloaded and I got sick. I lost my job and I couldn't find a job to pay rent. I was homeless."
But this year, he plans to celebrate Christmas by going Boxing Day shopping at West Edmonton Mall and spending a few relaxing hours at the Wild West Shooting Range with his fiancée.
Gary O'Coin
Nurse
Sturgeon Community Hospital
Raised in Caroline, Gary O'Coin always dreamt of being a doctor. After graduation, he moved to Edmonton to continue his studies, but met a woman, settled down and raised a family.
For 25 years he was employed as a heavy-duty auto mechanic. But at age 40, he followed his dreams and completed a Bachelor of Science degree.
"My choices were medicine, pharmacy or nursing. I wasn't likely to become a doctor or pharmacist so I took nursing," said O'Coin who has racked up five years at Sturgeon Hospital.
A large percentage of medical staff prefers working in big hospitals that are filled with shiny, life-saving technology. Not O'Coin.
"I'm a country boy. You can take the boy out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the boy. I like smaller hospitals where nurses, doctors and patients develop a closer relationship. The hospital population is smaller and you get to know people. It's more of a community than a job."
On Christmas Day, O'Coin will work the day shift, 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., on Unit 17, an internal medicine unit where patients could be dealing with numerous issues such as congestive heart failure, stroke, gastrointestinal problems and drug and alcohol overdoses.
Staff has brightened the unit with festive ornaments and a potluck is planned. Chocolates, Tim Hortons treats and coffees have a tendency to appear throughout the week.
"If we work Christmas, we get New Year's off."
When his duties are completed, O'Coin will visit his daughter where he will "watch my four-year-old granddaughter tear through Christmas presents like crazy."
Constable Stephanie Anton-Jeyapalan
RCMP Officer
St. Albert RCMP Detachment
This is the first Christmas Constable Stephanie Anton-Jeyapalan will observe Christmas without family.
Originally from Mississauga, Ontario Anton-Jeyapalan just graduated from a 26-week RCMP cadet training program and St. Albert is her first posting.
Peace officers work on a four-day cycle and on Christmas Day she is scheduled for the night shift from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m.
"I'm doing a mini-Christmas on Dec. 26 with a friend with a gift-opening and a small dinner. But after a four-day cycle, I just want to sleep and re-energize."
Anton-Jeyapalan expects to conduct patrols as a means of enforcing a police presence and handling calls, some just requesting information.
"Every day is a new day. That's one of the main reasons I came into this career. Every day is a new adventure. I can never see myself sitting behind a desk."
Prior to cadet training, she was studying forensics at the University of Toronto's Mississauga campus.
"That's what sparked my interest in police work. It's a seven-year dream and I'm finally doing it."
Had Anton-Jeyapalan still resided in her hometown, the Christmas celebrations start on Christmas Eve with a midnight mass. Following the mass, in the Sri Lankan tradition, the family would visit elders and exchange gifts. And on Christmas Day, there is a get-together with all the relatives at her aunt's house.
"Two or three weeks before Christmas Mom puts up the nativity and Dad builds a different stable and scenery every year."
Being away from family at this time of year can tug at the heart.
Her parting words were, "Be safe. Since this is my first time without my family, really cherish that time with your family."
