20 Years of Community Care Recognised

Birchip and Donald’s Ambulance Victoria first responders have been recognised for their service and clinical excellence.

Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) members Rachel Ferrier and Keiko Nakamura received 20-year service medals at the Ambulance Victoria Loddon Mallee Staff Recognition Awards held in Swan Hill last week.

Rachel, Keiko and Carol Reid have all reached the 20-year milestone, first volunteering for the CERT as part of the team’s second recruitment intake in 2006.

Rachel, who is the Birchip CERT Team Leader, was also presented with the region’s Outstanding First Responder of the Year award recognising a commitment to high-quality clinical care.

“CERT members are volunteers who provide such an essential service in our community providing care until an advanced life support paramedic is on scene,” Rachel said.

“This award means an incredibly great deal to me. It's recognition for years of dedicated training and passion to the role I play within Ambulance Victoria. Patient care is, and has always been, my number one priority.

"I am humbled to receive this award, but I would like to acknowledge my team, who deserve the recognition as much as I do and also to my colleagues that train us."

Keiko had friends travel from Tokyo to witness the award presentation from Ambulance Victoria CEO Jordan Emery on Thursday night, describing it as a once-in-20-year event.

“The time has gone so quickly. We have a fantastic team, and we have terrific community support for the work we do,” Keiko said.

“Our town is full of volunteers, some people work at the football, netball and other groups. I chose CERT as my way of helping our community.”

Birchip’s CERT is looking to recruit and continue to build its ranks to provide an essential service to the community.

“A key part of my role now is to keep recruiting and keep making sure we have more people come onto our team of amazing volunteers who show great passion and help people when they medically need it,” Rachel said.

Donald Ambulance Officers Recognised
Ambulance Community Officers (ACOs) have been honoured for 20 years’ service within the Donald community.

Anne Maree Wright and Greg Egan have been honoured for their 20 years' service. The award was presented to Greg by Ambulance Victoria CEO Jordan Emery at the recent Ambulance Victoria Loddon Mallee Staff Recognition Awards held in Bendigo. Anne Maree was unable to attend the awards, and will be presented with her award at a later date.

Greg became a first responder after the local blood bank branch, where he volunteered, shut down but he wanted to continue contributing to the health of the community.

After training under the leadership of then team leader Brian Bayles, Greg began his two-decade ACO career.

ACOs provide advanced first aid in rural and remote communities where the ambulance caseload is low or the ambulance branch is not staffed by multiple paramedics on a full-time basis.

ACOs are employed on a casual basis to work ‘on call’ and can transport patients to hospital. They play a vital role in community healthcare, through supporting the crucial work of paramedics and boosting the capacity to respond quickly to emergencies.

Greg has had many interesting call outs over the last 20 years, responding to a wide range of events and circumstances.

“The most satisfying cases are the ones where you’ve made a difference in someone’s life, but it’s not always about bringing someone back to life,” Greg said.

“There are also the moments where you hold someone’s hand and comfort them so they know you’re there to help them as much as you can.”

Working in his home community of Donald, Greg said it’s not unusual to know the patients that members of the team are called out to help.

“In a small town like this, 90 per cent of the time the people you are going to are people who you know. And the following week, you’ll see them or their family down the street,” Greg said.

“It can be hard, but I think it’s also an honour. Someone’s got to step up when the community needs help. The more you put in, the more you get out.

“We are there for anyone who needs help. I once had a patient involved in a high-speed crash who was cut from the vehicle and airlifted to hospital.

“Six months later, I was watching one of the medical shows on television and recognised that same patient who I initially helped to care for walking out of the hospital door. That’s what it’s about, ensuring people are back with their families.”

Anne Maree said her 20-year service was a way of giving back and contributing to the wellbeing of the Donald community, continuing on from her years of service with St John’s Ambulance in Nhill.

“I just love being an ACO and Ambulance Victoria was good to me many years ago and this is a way of me being able to give something back,” Anne Maree said.

“This has been a valuable way of providing a service to our community and while there are challenging times helping people in their time of need, there are so many rewarding times as well.

“Often when people come and say thank you for helping them, they recall you helping their family as well. You don’t do this for thanks and praise, but it means a lot.”

When looking back at his time as an ACO, Greg reflected on the changes at Ambulance Victoria including advancements in communications, training and level of care that can be provided to patients.

“We get great hands-on training with someone who has been out on the road and has paramedic experience or Mobile Intensive Care Ambulance paramedic experience,” he said.

“We’ve had four locals start off being ACOs and then they’ve gone on to becoming paramedics, which is a credit to the training and support we receive.

“We have a great Team Leader, Kerri Hepworth, and we have a close connection with neighbouring teams. We also get to work with some great crews of paramedics.”

With an eye to the future, Greg is hopeful that sharing his story will encourage others to become an ACO, especially in Donald and the surrounding communities.

“We’re always looking for more people. You don’t need a medical background and it’s not all blood and guts,” Greg said.

“It’s a wonderful team environment and it’s very rewarding to provide the first care for people within the community when they need help the most.”