Meet the Canberrans working on Christmas Day

Here's a chance to meet some of them.

After a tumultuous year for staff at Canberra pharmacies, Julia Tirkey will celebrate Christmas with her "work family".

The store manager at Pharmacy on Northbourne has worked on December 25 since she joined the company 10 years ago.

"My family is actually overseas so I don't really have much family time to do and with most of my friends, they have their own family. So Christmas Day is good to be with my work family in a sense," she said.

"Morning tea is a tradition, with staff bringing in festive treats to share. If I get time I normally bring a gingerbread house - let's see if I get time [this year]."

Demand is usually steady, though may peak this year as the booster rollout ramps up and people search for rapid antigen tests amid climbing case numbers.

Many customers proclaim a "Christmas miracle" upon discovering the Civic pharmacy is open for business, Ms Tirkey said.

"I also like to see people like on Christmas Day, like customers who come in and are just grateful that we're open and that we can help them out," she said.

"And I genuinely like to be able to help out people in whatever way I can."

Working in one of Canberra's walk-in clinics on Christmas Day, advanced practice nurse Kelly Munstermann will don Christmas-themed scrubs and tend to scrapes, sprains, cuts and bruises.

"We're there for when the Christmas toys go wrong," she said.

"It's a lot lighter, a few little laughs are had, and people usually come in with pretty funny costumes and funny stories, which we always love to hear."

Ms Munstermann has worked many Christmas Days in the 20 years she's spent as a nurse, but the pressure of COVID-19 has set this year apart, as the significance of work relationships come into sharp focus.

"Having those good relationships with your colleagues is really important, because on the days, where sometimes it's just a little bit hard, there's always someone there to lean on," she said.

"So I think it's nice to be able to celebrate with the people that you've been working alongside, rolling your sleeves up against COVID."

The health care workers will each bring in a plate and take advantage of a lull in patients to share some food, before Ms Munstermann heads home in the afternoon to open presents with her daughter.

"I'll work on an early shift, so in the afternoon, I'll go and celebrate with my family, my beautiful little eight-year-old will just have to wait until mum gets home to open some of the presents," she said.

Felicity Hassett will work her first Christmas Day this year, six months into the job as a paramedic.

"I'm expecting we will potentially be busy, I'm not sure," she said, looking to her colleague Claire Whitehead who has spent a number of Christmases on duty over the last 10 years.

"Usually we will decorate the ambulance and often we play Christmas carols," Ms Whitehead said of the staff's traditions on the day.

"On our line of shifts we all work with the same people throughout the whole time ... our work people are like our second family, if you will.

"It's nice in that sense that whilst we're not with our family, we call it our work family when we're here."

READ MORE:

Community recognition for emergency service workers spikes on Christmas, as the people standing by to pick up the pieces when things go awry come into sharp focus.

"There definitely is that extra layer of gratitude, particularly because everybody usually has a big family event on at the time so they'll often offer you snacks and things ... a cup of tea, or coffee, or what have you," Ms Whitehead said.

While they don't accept any of these offerings, it's the community's appreciation that reaches workers who have spent the past two years in the midst of a prolonged public health emergency.

The best gift to give emergency service workers this year: "Stay kind, be safe and be sensible please," Ms Hassett said.

"There's no real real trend or pattern to incidences on Christmas Day," ACT Fire & Rescue Acting Commander Brett Slater said.

Emergency workers just hope to try to make the most of pockets of quiet to share some festivities.

"Some of the stations have got some decorations up, the trucks you'll see around town have got tinsel and stuff on them," he said.

Families have previously been able to attend some stations for a meal, but this year COVID-19 restrictions will limit that.

"We just encourage people to have a safe day and enjoy it ... because if the Canberra public have a quiet day, we'll have a quiet day," he said.

Our coverage of the health and safety aspects of this outbreak of COVID-19 in the ACT is free for anyone to access. However, we depend on subscription revenue to support our journalism. If you are able, please subscribe here. If you are already a subscriber, thank you for your support. You can also sign up for our newsletters for regular updates.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: