同性恋色情

Driven by an unwavering passion to give back to the community, Kilmore Advanced Life Support (ALS) Paramedic Wally Mayski has achieved a milestone not reached by many 鈥� 50 years working with 同性恋色情.

For five decades, Wally has responded to Victorians when they needed him most, with his connection to his community being one of the reasons he loves the job just as much today, as the day he started.

鈥淚 enjoy being part of a team and there鈥檚 a lot of freedom and self-satisfaction. It鈥檚 very rewarding work and I realised early on that this is the best job you could do,鈥� he said.

Over the years, Wally has worked as an on-road paramedic in Sunshine, Broadmeadows and Melton, as well as a duty officer in the Metropolitan control room in Doncaster, and as a dispatcher in the rural control rooms in Wangaratta and Ballarat.

In his role as duty officer, Wally managed a team of dispatchers and call-takers, as well as monitored major incidents, ambulance demand and hospital activity. When the call-taking service now known as Triple Zero Victoria was established, Wally鈥檚 role in the control room was no longer required, so he returned on road.

Eventually, he landed as an ALS paramedic at the Kilmore branch, where he still works today.

Wally and his mother emigrated from Poland in 1961 when he was only nine years old. Because of the warm welcome they received, he wanted to repay the community by joining the police force or the ambulance service.

鈥淭he police declined my services due to my height being half an inch shorter than their cut off, so I concentrated on the ambulance service where even there I experienced some obstacles,鈥� he said.

鈥淎t that time, I was 24-years-old and they sought people who were at least 30. After getting knocked back, I presented personally to the ambulance headquarters in the city to convince them to put me through an intake.

鈥淚 remember progressing through the different intake phases of critical thinking and psychological tests and at the end I was one of only seven people selected out of 340 applicants.鈥�

From there, Wally completed a four-week training course in Malvern before starting on road as a student ambulance officer.

鈥淲hen I went into class, I was expecting gory pictures of trauma injuries to test us, but we were instead given lessons on how the body works, what goes wrong and what to do to fix it,鈥� Wally said.

鈥淭he training in those days was drastically different to the three-year university course graduates do now. After 18 months of on road training, I qualified as an 同性恋色情 Officer.鈥�

Throughout his career, Wally has had a front row seat to the evolution of paramedicine and has grown with the service.

鈥淚鈥檝e always wanted to stay current with my practice, so as the service has developed, I鈥檝e tried to do the same,鈥� he said.

鈥淚 remember when we had minimal equipment which included wooden and air splints, wound dressings, oxygen and three drugs. We also had two stretchers in the ambulance and could load four or five people at mass casualty events.

鈥淭here is absolutely no comparison to what the current paramedic offers the community in the way of diagnosis and treatment. The significant equipment available and the huge range of medications is a far cry from what we had back in my early days.鈥�

While there are many cases that stay with Wally to this day, two significant ones that stand out are the Hoddle Street shootings and the Queen Street shootings.

For Wally, the key to achieving 50 years in ambulance is having separation between your work and home life.

鈥淭his job makes you realise how lucky you are to have your health and your family because you鈥檙e responding to people who are experiencing their worst moments,鈥� he said.

鈥淗aving an appreciation for how delicate life can be is part of the beauty of this job, it really puts everything into perspective.

鈥淢y advice to the next generation is to try not to take these things home with you. It鈥檚 vital and healthy to move on and switch off from work in your down time.鈥�

Wally has no plans to hang up the uniform yet and said he鈥檚 forever thankful to have been given the opportunity to serve the community each day.

鈥淚鈥檝e been fortunate to have a lot of job satisfaction during the last 50 years and I hope that I achieved what I wanted to in terms of giving back to the community,鈥� he said.