SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — Thanksgiving is a day full of food and family, but there are also a lot of falls reported. That’s the number one call the Seminole County Fire Department Emergency Communications Center receives on Thanksgiving.
What You Need To Know
Falls are the most common calls on Thanksgiving Day at the Seminole County Fire Department Emergency Communications Center.
A sick person and mechanical alarms are also at the top of the list for calls on the holiday
Even though it’s a holiday, their call volume is close to normal. They take fire and medical calls; on average, it is about 152 calls. Last year on Thanksgiving, they had 142. The reasons people call 911 on the holiday are a lot more than just for a cooking mishap.
After you make the call, help on the other end of the line. The team is fully staffed for their 12-hour shift.
“You are there to help and you can only make it better,” said Patricia Garrett, the assistant supervisor at the Seminole County Fire Department Emergency Communications Center.
Garrett takes pride in being the voice on the other end of the line.
“Sometimes it is just like comforting an old lady who has been on the floor all night,” Garrett said.
Falls are the most common calls on Thanksgiving Day.
“We will stay on the line until help arrives and during that, we are just going to talk to them, tell them help is on the way, they are going to take great care of you, you did the right thing by calling,” Garrett said.
A sick person and mechanical alarms are also at the top of the list. Regardless of the call, Garrett and her team are there, holiday or not.
“This rotation is actually unfortunate in the fact that we are going to be working all the holidays for the next couple of years, just the way that our schedule falls,” Garrett said.
But, it’s their family away from family.
“We try to make it fun and festive,” Garrett said of her coworkers.
They have decorations and a table lined with the Thanksgiving essentials, including Garrett’s popular potatoes.
“I made them last year and I was kind of told that I was making them again this year when we were signing up,” Garrett said.
The mac and cheese, the casseroles and the stuffing are all piled up. But the day is not about what’s on the plate, it’s about their passion to serve the community.
“The citizens are really thoughtful and the fact that they don’t want to disturb the firefighters, and we are like this is what we are here for, we want to make sure that we are taking care of you on Thanksgiving, so your next Thanksgiving is happy and healthy,” Garrett said.