If you’re still thinking about a career as a paramedic?… well here’s some great news. Australians have given the thumbs up to paramedics, voting them the most trusted profession in the Australian Reader’s Digest annual survey for the eighth year in a row.
After more than 25 years in the ambulance service, paramedic Norm Rees says still loves his job. And it appears he’s not the only one.
Norm, who worked at Wollongong Hospital for 13 years before joining the Ambulance Service of New South Wales, is now the duty operations manager at Wollongong Station.
“It’s really nice to be held up there for that long,” Norm said. “We go into situations as neutral, whether it be a trauma scene or into a residence to treat a medical condition. We have no other agenda but to treat and care for patients.”
For Norm, being a paramedic is not only working in the most trusted profession – it’s also working in the best job.
“I love the variety and the people I work with. Every job is completely different,” he said. “You get to go to a whole heap of different places and meet a lot of nice people and interesting people. It’s just a very rewarding job. I don’t think you could get better – that’s after 25 years I can still say that.”
The NSW service is the third largest ambulance service in the world, employing more than 4000 people and responding to more than 1,149,000 emergency and non-emergency calls in 2010-2011. Paramedics were not the only health profession to score a top 10 position in the poll. Nurses came in at number four, doctors made sixth position and pharmacists ranked in seventh place.
Norm’s daughter Vanessa shares her father’s passion for the ambulance service. Vanessa joined the service about two years ago and is now a paramedic intern at Picton and Campbelltown. “My daughter is finding out exactly the same thing – she absolutely loves it,” he said.
“She said to me ‘Dad it’s not a job, it’s a lifestyle’. We commonly share jobs and talk about how you can do it better and different ways of doing things. I am very proud of her” said Norm.
Call the Australian Paramedical College on 1300 377 741 to see how easy it is to begin a pathway to become a paramedic.