Friday 27 February marked NSW Health Volunteers Appreciation Day and Ambulance extended a warm thank you to all it’s volunteers who selflessly give of their own time to assist others.

This year marked an impressive milestone for one of our volunteer paramedics, Mathias Faff, who celebrated an amazing 50 years of volunteer service at Lake Cargelligo Ambulance Station.

Matt and his wife were flown to Sydney to attend a formal afternoon tea hosted by Greg Rochford, Ambulance Chief Executive, and in recognition of his efforts a special presentation was made by Graham West, Minister for Volunteering. Minister West awarded Matt a commemorative drop ribbon for being the longest serving Ambulance volunteer.

Ambulance’s entire volunteer workforce also received a letter of thanks and appreciation and commemorative bookmark from Mr Rochford. These exceptional individuals work tirelessly behind the scenes to help others. Ambulance volunteers include volunteer paramedics, peer support officers, community first responders, chaplains, consumer representatives, Ambulance Band and the Ceremonial Guard. There are also many other Ambulance staff who donate their personal time to deliver community education programs and represent Ambulance by promoting important health messages at community events, station open days and parades.

On behalf of the community of NSW, we say thank you. For more information on Ambulance volunteers see the Volunteers page of our website.

Photograph (L to R): Valentina Faff, Mick Willis, General Manager Operations, Volunteer paramedic Mathias Faff, Graham West, Minister for Volunteering and Greg Rochford, Chief Executive, Ambulance Service of NSW.
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Within days of the new reality show Triple Zero Heroes going to air, siblings Kristian 10, Eva 9 and Zoe 12 used the skills they learnt by watching Triple Zero Heroes to revive their sister Phoebe 3 who nearly drowned in their backyard swimming pool.

Kristian and his sisters were all playing in the pool when they noticed their youngest sibling lying face down in the water at their Carool home near Tweed Heads. The three siblings dragged her from the pool and noticed she wasn’t breathing. Kristian commenced CPR and says that he learnt this from watching the show Triple Zero Heroes only days before.

Tweed Heads paramedics took Phoebe to Tweed Heads Hospital and she has since made a full recovery.

The first episode of Triple Zero Heroes that aired on Sunday 8 February featured a story on 3 year old Jaidyn who was found at the bottom of his swimming pool by his mother and grandmother who performed CPR prior to the arrival of paramedics. The call made by Jaidyn’s mother was harrowing and the advice given by Ambulance call taker Lisa was vital in saving Jaidyn’s life.

Triple Zero Heroes is a new reality show that re-enacts real life emergencies and talks to the people involved as they reflect on the actual Triple Zero (000) call recordings. Call takers and paramedics from Ambulance Service of NSW along with our patients and their families will tell their stories. It airs on Sunday nights at 8pm on the Seven Network.

Do you have a personal Triple Zero Hero story?
The Producers of the show would love to hear your personal Triple Zero Heroes story. Your story could be part of the next series. To provide information to Channel Seven click here.
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Paramedics are becoming frustrated by the increasing number of people attempting to use ambulances as a taxi service for treatments of minor ailments. This type of behaviour prevents paramedics from attending life threatening emergencies and puts lives at risk. Ambulance responded to 22,000 incidents during 2006/07 where patients refused any form of treatment.

Paramedics are highly trained health professionals who spend up to three years qualifying to provide out of hospital medical care to members of the community. A significant number of triple zero calls requesting an ambulance response were not an emergency and did not require medical assistance.

The "Don’t use an ambulance as a taxi" campaign was developed to inform the community about the proper use of ambulances.

Examples of inappropriate calls to Ambulance include:

• A person asked paramedics to retrieve a pillow that fell off the bed as he was too tired to retrieve it.

• Person thought she had cut her foot. In fact, she had a piece of beetroot in her slipper.

• Person requesting their bed be adjusted.

• Person testing medical alert alarm. When ambulance arrived stated: “Now I know it works.”

• Call from a shopping centre, person requesting: “I live near the hospital could you give me a lift home?”

• A person complaining they could not sleep.

• Broken fingernail.

Paramedics are there to provide an emergency service for people needing urgent medical attention for such conditions as shortness of breath, unconsciousness, chest pain, broken bone(s), traumatic accident, head injury, suspected heart attack or stroke and excessive blood loss.

Download > Radio commercial No 1 > Radio Commercial No 2.
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The start of autumn often brings seasonal health challenges which may exacerbate medical illnesses, particularly for asthmatics, people with low immunity, those predisposed to allergies and the elderly.

For those people in the community that may be affected by seasonal changes the Ambulance Service recommends:

• Having an up to date emergency medical action plan from your doctor

• Carrying medication for allergic reactions and/or asthma with you

• Those that are sensitive to pollens and other allegens should reduce their exposure to irritants

• As the weather gets cooler wear appropriate warm garments.

Autumn also signals an increase in respiratory illnesses and with the onset of these, visits to your GP become more likely. Read our tips on staying healthy and preventing the transmission of respiratory-like diseases. If you are suffering from an infectious respiratory illness such as the flu, you should not attend school, work or social functions. This will help minimise cross infection and further spread throughout the community.

Autumn is also a good time to consult your doctor or health advisor to arrange an influenza vaccination.
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Bushfires devastated much of Victoria resulting in 210 people confirmed dead, 810 plus patients presenting at emergency departments across Victoria, over 2,000 residential properties destroyed and over 7,000 people reported to be homeless.

On Sunday 8 February, the first NSW Ambulance paramedic team was deployed to Victoria to help assist our Victorian colleagues. All up a total of 135 NSW paramedics were deployed to Victoria.

In addition many Ambulance staff provided invaluable support including deployment coordination, equipment and administrative support.

Photograph: Mike Willis, General Manager, Operations farewelled on of the teams going to Victoria.
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For 20 years, Jacqueline worked as a psychiatric nurse assisting mental health patients with the challenges of daily life.

Currently studying as a trainee paramedic at Ambulance Headquarters in Rozelle, Jacqueline believes that being a paramedic will be just the change in career she was looking for.

Jacqueline is hoping the ambulance service will give her more opportunities to develop her skills and grow and complement her nursing training.

“One of the things about psych nursing is that all our patients have mental health issues. In the ambulance service, I’ll be able to work with a more diverse range of people and medical conditions.”

Jacqueline has finally bitten the bullet and applied after thinking about it nearly five years ago. The application process for her was simple and straightforward. “When the ball got rolling it all happened very quickly.” Jacqueline said.

A career with Ambulance offers a range of employment opportunities. We are unique from any other ambulance service as our front line staff have the opportunity to specialise into diverse areas such as the Special Casualty Access Team (SCAT), Aeromedical services, Snow operations, Rapid Response, Rescue, Counter Disaster and Patient Transport Services. Ambulance has a fully accredited Ambulance Education Centre.

Interested in a career change? Information on becoming a trainee paramedic - click here.
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Any member of the community may nominate a member of the public who assisted at a medical emergency attended by Ambulance or any Ambulance staff member for an award. They may have demonstrated outstanding courage or have placed themselves at substantial risk of injury.

To nominate a community member for an award contact Mr Jim Smyth, Manager, Corporate Services (Email:jsmyth@ambulance.nsw.gov.au) who will provide the appropriate forms for completion. All nominations are presented to the Ambulance Honours and Awards Committee for discussion and recommendation on the award for the recipient.
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Last year New South Wales recorded its first fatality free Easter since records commenced 60 years ago.

This was a great result and there is no reason we can’t do it again. Ambulance offers the following advice.

• Drive to the conditions – remember, the speed limit is the maximum speed in good conditions. In adverse conditions slow down!

• Always maintain a safe distance between you and the car in front. A gap of at least three seconds between cars is suggested in good conditions. A longer gap is recommended if you are carrying extra weight such as a trailer or if the road/weather conditions are less than ideal.

• Always ensure that every person in the car is wearing a seatbelt at all times.

• Children must always be restrained in an approved RTA fitted child seat or capsule.

• Take a break at least every two hours – stop, revive, survive.

• Endeavour to travel during daylight hours – this is when visibility is at its best and your body clock is in “awake mode.”

• Drive with your headlights on, even during daylight hours as it will make you more visible to other road users.

• Alcohol and driving do not mix – ensure that only licensed sober drivers get behind the wheel.

• Never use your mobile phone or text while driving.

• Motorcyclists and pillion passengers must always remember to wear visible protective clothing and footwear as well as an approved Australian Standards helmet.

Safe driving!
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