The rainy Labor Day was not synonymous with rest for local first responders; it was just another day on the job.

Firefighters, ambulance paramedics and 911 dispatchers were hard at work Monday, and said there were increasing difficulties that came with staffing a holiday crew.

Across the board, first responders, such as Rob McLafferty, 911 coordinator at the county dispatch center, answered about the same amount of emergency responses as on holidays like Labor Day.

“Generally, we’re slower on holidays. Less folks traveling out on the roadway, out doing things. Especially in the morning there is not as many people out doing risky behaviors,” he said.

Comparing 10:30 a.m. statistics from Monday, Aug. 29, to the same time on Labor Day, McLafferty said there was a 36% decrease in 911 calls.

“We still do a full staff, six people. Like other emergency response, you never know when a large event is going to occur,” he said.

Staffing a volunteer response team on a holiday varies as much as the amount of calls, according to local fire chiefs.

Lou Zimmerman, chief of Connoquenessing Volunteer Fire Company, said his volunteers generally don’t stay at the station on holidays, but get called from home to emergency scenes.

“We just had a call and we staffed with 10 people; it just depends on who’s available,” he said. “On a holiday, for us, staffing is a little better because folks aren’t working. Had that call been a typical Monday morning, you probably could have cut that in half.”

He said the amount of calls that come in is dependent on a few factors.

“A lot of it depends on the weather. If it’s doomy and gloomy, there’s not as many people out doing things, risking accidents,” he said. “If there is a significant weather event, we will hang out at the station so we can save time to get there.”

Walt Hamilton, chief of Middlesex Township Volunteer Fire Company, said they use the on-call staffing method as well. Given lower volumes of traffic, they respond to fewer calls.

“On holidays, there’s a lot less traffic, you don’t have semis on the road or mail people on the road,” he said.

Hamilton said his team of volunteers are hard workers.

“I don’t think people realize when we get called at 2 a.m., our guys don’t miss work; they put in a 10 to 12 hour day,” he said. “At 3 o’clock in the morning we could staff two trucks with 10 guys, but at 7 a.m. you might not be able to answer. When you fill the truck, you’re fortunate.”

Volunteer firefighter organizations aren’t the only ones suffering from staffing shortages. According to Andrew Freehling, paramedic supervisor at Butler Ambulance Service, the Labor Day staff was stretched thin.

“We don’t have as many van drivers or BLS (basic life support) crews. We’re a little more short staffed than normal. In comparison, we’re much shorter staffed than we would be on a holiday,” he said. “I’m on a four-day stretch, I’ve worked the whole weekend. So I’m not really celebrating (the holiday).”

As of Monday morning, the service was responding to mostly medical calls. On holidays like Christmas or Thanksgiving, where weather is a factor, they try to be more prepared than usual.

“On other holidays, like Christmas, we try to have four ambulances for advance life support, one basic life support,” he said. “We try to maintain that, (but) it’s been hard to (do so).”

Keith Singleton, deputy chief of Quality EMS in Mars, said they also have a full staff for Labor Day. Though the early part of the day was spent answering medical calls, he anticipates accidents may occur later into the night.

“Holidays are either really quiet or really busy. With people hitting alcohol in the evening, it could get busier,” he said.

The staffing shortage could come with consequences, Freehling said.

“People need to understand the shortage may lead to longer response times,” he said. He noted that the shortage is “county wide, it’s not just Butler Ambulance.”

Zimmerman said the biggest holiday emergency situations in his memory happened during winter months.

“The blizzard of ’93 we spent a week (at the station), that was kinda neat. With the ice storm a couple of years ago, we had 30 calls in 24 hours for trees down and people needing help,” he said. “With holidays, it really varies. It’s hit or miss.”

In his 38 years in fire service, Hamilton said he’s had everything from structure fires on Christmas Day to a brush fire and snow on Easter Day, and each event warranted volunteer response.

“Just because it’s a holiday, whatever force out there that makes things happen, it’s not their holiday,” he said.