AFTER spending eight years fielding triple-0 calls at the NSW Ambulance Operations Centre in Dubbo, Alison Smith decided to get closer to the action by becoming a trainee paramedic at the Orange station.
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Ms Smith is one of 45 new NSW Ambulance trainee paramedics who have just spent eight weeks training at the NSW Ambulance Education Centre.
“I’m really looking forward to helping people in their time of need and having a more hands-on role in the patient journey with NSW Ambulance,” she said.
“I have always had an interest in the paramedic profession and once I completed my control centre training, I had a strong desire to cross over to face-to-face patient interaction”
As part of their training students are required to complete three years of on-the-job training while undertaking distance study for a diploma of paramedical science via the NSW Ambulance Education Centre in Sydney.
NSW Ambulance paramedic and director of education Alan Morrison said the group had been trained in human anatomy and physiology, patient assessment, medical emergencies and treatment, trauma management, maternity, basic and advanced life support techniques and equipment, scene management and coping with stressful situations.
“Our experienced paramedics educators at the Ambulance Education Centre have given them a fantastic foundation for when they go out on road and put those skills into practice.
Once qualified this group of trainee paramedics can specialise in areas such as intensive care, extended care, ambulance education, special casualty access team, aeromedical services, snow operations, rescue, counter disaster or ambulance management.