How first responders spend Christmas while in service

LOGAN COUNTY. Ky. – Many every day heroes dedicate their time and lives to helping out civilians, and, unfortunately, accidents don’t stop on the holidays.

Logan County sheriff Stephen Stratton sat down with News 40 to talk about working on the holidays while in the line of service to the community. Stratton said their law enforcement agency encourages the deputies to still try to spend time with their families over the holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas and of course New Year’s.

“We don’t restrict them to being on the road as much. They can go to dinners, church, but they just have to stay in their uniform in case they get a call,” Stratton said.

The sheriff affirmed that “we all know what we sign up for” in his interview and that “the schedule is the schedule,” but in law enforcement, they’re all family, and the families of the officers understand how unpredictable the job can be. Stratton said many families plan around days off for their loved ones.

According to the sheriff, he said many times officers will switch schedules with those who are older or might have younger children so they can be together for the holidays.

Stratton also said they share some comradery with the ER and EMT workers. “The nurses at the ER will have things going on sometimes and ask who’s on shift, tell them ‘come to the hospital’ and they’ll have little knickknack food, you know.”