Mirboo North in good hands
Great team: paramedic Warren Kenney, ambulance community officer Malcolm Garth and Mirboo North team manager and paramedic, Don Gillies outside the station.
MIRBOO North is fortunate to have the benefit of two paramedics, as well as the assistance of 10 ambulance community officers.
Mirboo North’s full time paramedics, Don Gillies and Warren Kenney said they are lucky to have the support of such a dedicated group of volunteers.
Community officers are people who make themselves available and give their time to ensure the town and surrounding areas have full-time ambulance cover.
“It isn’t quite straight forward volunteer work,” Mr Gillies said.
“They make themselves available on their own time, however if an ACO does need to attend a situation, they are paid for their time.
“They co-ordinate among themselves to make sure that they have organised continuous cover.
“It is a small group of people that are dedicated to providing their town with a service.”
Anybody can apply to become an ACO, however there is a trend as to the type of people who serve.
“Generally the people that are involved are people who are community minded. They are people who care about their community and the people in it,” Mr Gillies said.
“Often the people who do become involved are linked to other groups within the community.”
ACOs undertake an initial 50 hour training program and this is followed by 30 hours of training each year to keep their knowledge and skills current.
“Successful applicants are required to complete a certificate two TAFE course in emergency medical service,” Mr Gillies said.
“This course gives them extensive instruction in delivering first response medical care.
“We look for commitment and people with an understanding of the work and the role. ACOs must have great interpersonal skills.”
Mr Kenney agreed, adding “ambulance officers need to have an element of theatre about them. They need to know how to act.”
“We have to deal with people in varying circumstances, so we need to have personalities that can handle those varying situations,” he said.
There is an aspect to the ACO work that paramedics do not necessarily experience, as community officers are typically people who are heavily involved in their community.
“The odds are that they will come across a well known community member in a trauma situation at some stage,” Mr Gillies said.
“Ambulance Community Officers with strong links to their town is also a benefit from the community’s point of view,” Mr Kenney said.
“Having familiar faces around in times of trauma can help put the people involved at ease and help to strengthen the bonds between us and the community.
“It is also great because local people know their community and the idiosyncrasies of their region. We can benefit from their knowledge.”
The paramedics came on board in 2009 and are rostered on at the station full-time from 8am to 6pm. ACO staff cover overnight shifts and are also on call during the day if possible.
“More than 80 per cent of our workload occurs between 8am and 6pm so often an ACO will accompany a paramedic on a call-out,” Mr Kenney said.
“They experience the same range of work that we do as paramedics,” Mr Kenney said.
When not working alongside a paramedic, an ACO’s primary role is to stabilise the patient and wait for back up.
When an ACO crew is dispatched, they have a support system in place so that they can determine what is best for the people involved and how best to handle the situation.
“Their main role is to stabilise any patients and to wait for the back-up of paramedics, but in some situations they will complete treatment and transport patients if required,” Mr Gillies said.
While the Mirboo North station has the benefit of community officers, some branches aren’t so fortunate.
“There are branches that have a single officer, with absolutely no support. We have the benefit of another trained pair of hands that we can rely on,” Mr Gillies said.
“We have been working with them from the start and only very occasionally are we on our own.”
Community officers must give a minimum of 20 hours of active service per month, however the Mirboo North officers give much more than that.
“Some of them rack up hundreds of hours. They are very committed and see being involved in their community as a positive, rewarding experience. We are very lucky to have them,” Mr Gillies said.
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