Every year, thousands of EMS professionals sacrifice time with their family in order to ensure the safety of their community. Working holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas is often considered one of the major downsides of the job, but it doesn’t have to be. You can make the holidays more special than ever by celebrating with your EMS family and creating a new Christmastime tradition. If you’re wondering how to make the most of the holidays, consider the following four tips.
Find a Date to Celebrate
Because many EMS professionals and their departments will be working or on-call during actual holidays, it’s best to find an alternative date to celebrate. You might choose to celebrate Christmas and other December holidays on December 1st, for example, and throw a party for the department. To make sure that everybody is included, you can even share a survey to determine what date works best for everybody within your department. This is a great way to ensure that everybody gets to participate and nobody feels left out.
Plan a Special Gift
Parties are great, but presents are even better. Who doesn’t want a special surprise when the holidays roll around? One of the best ways to make your EMS department feel appreciated is to invest in a special gift for all of your personnel. This can be a group gift that’s for everybody or individual gifts for each individual. There are plenty of presents for EMS professionals that are great for demonstrating your appreciation. If you’re not sure what kind of present to get, consider a practical investment like a coffee maker or some comfortable socks!
Celebrate Online
Sometimes, even when you try to make it work, it’s simply impossible to schedule an in-person party that everybody can attend. This is especially true during the holiday season, when people want to spend time with their families. Rather than hosting an in-person party, then, you can consider scheduling an online celebration for the holiday season. Planning an online party can be just as fun as an in-person event, and it offers the opportunity to unit everybody. Be sure to seek feedback from your department members when you’re planning to ensure that everybody’s voice is represented.
Involve the Family
Whether you’re hosting a party online or in-person, you should always invite your department’s EMS personnel to involve their families. The holiday are all about spending time with the ones you love, and when you’re celebrating your EMS personnel, you should recognize the sacrifices that their families make, too. You can do this by involving them in party planning, making sure that they are invited, and extending your thanks to them. EMS families are an important part of their communities.
About Provident Insurance Programs
With roots dating back to 1902, Provident Insurance Programs is a program administrator that serves paid and volunteer firefighters in addition to emergency medical responders with numerous custom-tailored insurance programs. We’ve also extended our expertise and experience to offer benefit plans and coverages to participant groups as well as Transportation Benefits. We are committed to continuing to provide superior customer service, and would be happy to speak with you to provide further information. Give us a call today at (855) 201-8880 to speak with one of our representatives.