For Sophie Wills, being a paramedic who's surrounded by amazing clinicians is a privilege.
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Ms Wills is a graduate paramedic intern based in Dubbo. She's six months away from being fully qualified.
"I was always fascinated by emergency services and I think as a young kid I was always the person people went to in a crisis because I was always calm. I guess it's a bit cliche but I just genuinely like helping people," Ms Wills said.
"I guess one of the main reasons I chose to go into the ambulance service as a paramedic was because I had an accident when I was 15. It wasn't a huge deal but the paramedics that were there made me feel so safe and so cared for. It was just an instant trust for these two people and I had no idea who they were."
NSW Ambulance has seen a steady increase in the number of women employees in the last five years. Since 2015 there's been an eight per cent rise is female employees, who now make up 45 per cent of the NSW Ambulance workers.
ALSO MAKING NEWS:
Monday, March 8 is International Women's Day.
Ms Wills said in Dubbo, there were plenty of female paramedics and "plenty of women who were really, really strong paramedics".
"Ultimately, across emergency services and particularly across NSW Ambulance there are some incredibly well-rounded and fantastic female clinicians. I think it's an absolute privilege to work for a service that values that and work in an environment that really supports female clinicians," she said.
"To me as a young female coming into a service that was traditionally quite male dominated, I feel quite privileged to be able to learn under the guidance of experienced clinicians and be treated exactly the same."
It's a job Ms Wills absolutely loves, especially getting to do something different every day.
"I don't know another profession that people would open their door to in their darkest moments or their hardest moments and they just instantly trust you," she said.
While there are a lot of jobs that have an impact, from the person who looks like a loved one, to seeing someone on the road to recovery a month after you helped them, Ms Wills said it wasn't always the expected moments that stuck with you.
"There are a lot of different jobs and it's not necessarily the big jobs that are the ones that affect you or get that drive from, it's lots and lots of little jobs and little moments," she said.
Halfway through her year of on-the-job learning, Ms Wills is full of praise for the Dubbo team.
"As a paramedic you need to have an element of confidence and you need to have an element of looking like you know what your'e doing, so to speak. But there's also a fine line between being confident and having that humility. You've got to have that as well. That's very evident in the Dubbo crew," she said.
"It's great having those really great clinicians and people who are good at their job but they've also got a lot of humility an a lot of time to train new paramedics such a myself."
When asked what she would say to anyone considering joining, Ms Wills doesn't hesitate in her response.
"Anyone who's considering a job that's different every day, that helps people, that's exciting at times. I would more than consider being a paramedic. It's a privilege and it's something that I certainly don't take for granted. Anyone considering joining the field shouldn't take it for granted either."
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