Saving lives just part of a paramedic's job

The terror attacks on New York and Washington last month focused attention on the work of paramedics, writes ALICE SHOPLAND.

As it became clear that there would be very few survivors of the World Trade Center tragedy, the dusty and exhausted would-be rescuers became symbols of both hope and despair.

Helensville woman Patsy Carlyle can empathise with the paramedics and firefighters in their desperate search more than most New Zealanders.

She's worked as an ambulance officer for St John for 16 years, and had returned from her third consecutive summer working in upstate New York just a fortnight earlier.

Meeting paramedic students while she was working as a nurse inspired Carlyle to volunteer for St John part-time, and in 1985 she became a full-time ambulance officer.

Last year she became a paramedic, the highest ranking for ambulance officers in New Zealand.

"It's the best job in the world", she says. She loves the freedom and variety, the contact with the local community and the opportunities to do prevention and education on current health issues like water safety and meningitis.

Now team manager at Silverdale ambulance station, she might deliver a baby one shift, give emergency medication to an asthmatic on the next, or drink a cup of tea with a fretful insomniac who just needs to talk.

Last year she did Auckland University of Technology's part-time paramedic course; several years ago she studied vet nursing part-time at Unitec because she was often called to incidents involving animals as well as people.

She loves the holistic approach her job allows. "I've had dogs and cats in the back of the ambulance sometimes because their owners are going to hospital to die and they want to say goodbye to their animals".

Incidents like a double fatality from a car crash near Wenderholm recently are tempered by joys like resuscitating a 26-week-old baby who'd stopped breathing.

"What I see in a week at work, most people don't see in their whole lives", says Carlyle. "I've met the people who work in the strip joints on Karangahape Rd and I've driven an ambulance under the wing of a 747 on the runway.

"I've gone in a dinghy out to an incident on a boat and on a quad bike in Woodhill Forest, in a helicopter, and on the police launch Deodar".

Obviously a liking for adventure helps in this job - Carlyle says you should also be "very people-focused, adaptable and able to think on your feet".

She says verbal abuse from patients and their relatives has increased over the years, but she's never been injured in her 16 years on the job.

"You get very good at reading situations, to know who to watch out for and how to stop a threatening situation developing.

"If there are no lights on in a house at night, we don't go in. If we think there might be weapons involved, we don't go in".

If things do start to feel overwhelming, Carlyle usually relies on her strong support network of friends to talk it through over a coffee.

There's also a peer support team of ambulance personnel available to talk on the phone any time of the day or night, and free anonymous counselling with outside professionals.

And Carlyle says her United States summer job - nine weeks teaching handcrafts to special needs children and adults at camp - is the perfect antidote for any stresses that might have built up over the year.

WANT TO VOLUNTEER?

The Northern Region of St John covers Mercer to Cape Reinga, with about 200 full-time paid ambulance officers and about 500 volunteers.

Some volunteers later apply for full-time work with the service; others volunteer all their adult lives.

In Auckland, volunteers regularly work alongside paid staff on evening, weekend and some day shifts. In rural areas volunteers are the ambulance service.

There are two categories of volunteers: ambulance officers, who commit to one shift per week, and First Responders, who commit to at least four hours attendance and one training session each month.

For more information, phone St John (09) 5791015 or visit The Order of St John

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If you want to join the paramedics on the Westpac rescue helicopter, your best bet is to start with St John, says chief paramedic Barry Watkin.

There are just five crew (mostly trained in the armed forces) and five paramedics (all ex-St John) to cover all shifts.

The paramedics do one 24-hour shift followed by three days off; they spend at least one of their days off each week on the road with ambulance officers.

The helicopter goes on about 600 call-outs a year and is especially busy on summer weekends.

Watkin says the work can be "very, very rewarding."

"When they call us out, it's usually life and death stuff ... we can make a big difference by getting someone to a base hospital fast enough to save their lives after a high-speed impact, or get to someone before they drown".