Adapting to change is something Shauna Scott knows all too well, given how long she has worked with NSW Ambulance.
Last month her colleagues celebrated her reaching 35 years with the organisation, where she has become a trusted and valued control centre assistant at Northern Control Centre.
And while Shauna has seen her fair share of changes so far as managers, colleagues, procedures and technological
advances since she first joined the organisation as a 24-year-old in 1986, perhaps the best example of her ability
to successfully adapt to change came in 1989.
“I was there when the earthquake happened in Hamilton (a suburb of Newcastle),” she said.
“Hamilton was the epicentre of the earthquake and I remember a wall dropped out of the side of the station.
“We all had to evacuate and set up a mobile control centre. That was a pretty exciting time.”
Shauna, who first joined the organisation as an office worker at Control before becoming a fulltime call taker, said there are some stressful moments in the role – but there are plenty of rewarding ones too.
“It’s great when you can give resuscitation guidance over the phone, deliver roadside babies over the phone, and help people in general."
“You get your good and bad callers, but the good ones are always good and, if the situation isn’t too serious, you can joke with them sometimes to lighten the mood.”
But it’s not just the callers that Shauna loves about the job – it’s the colleagues too.
“Yeah, definitely,” she said.
“My core group of girls I work with are around my age and we all socialise together… and the people I work with on the lines, we all get along pretty well.”
Evidently, the feeling is mutual.
Shauna has been described as a call taker with advanced skills in effectively managing challenging locations, multi patient traumatic scenes, and cases where her lateral thinking skills are tangible.
She is considered a quiet, capable worker who has a very calming influence in the control room. She is interested in her team and always available for colleagues during her scheduled breaks.
Staff at Northern Control Centre provided a delicious food spread, presents and congratulatory display signs in the centre to recognise Shauna’s 35 years with the service.