Daylesford branch named Grampians Team of the Year as local ACO takes top honour

Paramedics and first responders at Ambulance Victoria’s (AV) Daylesford branch have been recognised for going above and beyond to provide best care, named Grampians Team of the Year at AV staff recognition awards.

The success was backed up by Daylesford local and Clunes Ambulance Community Officer (ACO) Glenn Webster earning the region’s Outstanding First Responder Award, another of the night’s big honours.

Grampians Regional Director Steve Doyle said the Daylesford team were deserving winners of the Team of the Year title.

“The paramedics and first responders at our Daylesford branch clearly show their commitment to clinical excellence and teamwork. They consistently meet performance expectations while delivering safe, compassionate care to the community,” he said.

“The Daylesford branch is a great place to work – the team foster an inclusive, informative and enjoyable work environment where every team member feels heard, valued and empowered to contribute.

“Congratulations to everyone in the Daylesford team on well-earned recognition.”

Daylesford Acting Team Manager Benjamin Carty echoed that the Daylesford branch and team are well known to be a leading workplace within AV.

“The team’s commitment to clinical excellence is strengthened by their passion for maintaining a fun and supportive team environment where we truly care for each other, which helps us to care for our community,” he said.

“It is a great honour to be able to lead the team currently and support my colleagues at a time when their hard work and dedication are being recognised by this peer nominated award.

“The team are all very grateful to their colleagues and the region and are now motivated to uphold their reputation as champions of care, accountability, respect and excellence. Can we make it two years in a row?”

ACO Glenn Webster was named Grampians Outstanding First Responder after seven years at AV, starting out at the Daylesford branch and now based at Clunes.

The award recognises an AV first responder (ACO or Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) member) who has displayed outstanding performance both operationally and as a member of their team.

“It’s a huge honour and totally unexpected,” Glenn said.

“It’s to the credit of the wonderful support I’ve had from all the paramedics I’ve worked with over the years, who have treated me with such respect and as an equal.

“I’m honoured every time I pull an ambulance uniform on.”

In addition to his ACO work, Glenn is also Captain of the Daylesford Country Fire Authority (CFA) and it was a desire to improve his first responder skillset that inspired him to join AV.

“At the CFA, we do a lot of road crash rescues and sometimes we get there before an ambulance. I thought I didn’t know enough to really help the patients once we got them out of their vehicles, which worried me,” he said.

“I got to know the Daylesford paramedics well going to those jobs and the team manager at the time suggested I become an ACO. I thought it was a great idea.”

ACOs are AV first responders employed on a casual basis to work on-call and are trained to provide advanced first aid in rural and remote communities. All initial and ongoing training is provided by AV.

“I did the training and studied very hard. I’ve learnt a lot more than I was probably required to because I really enjoy it,” Glenn said.

“It’s been wonderful because I can now work between two fantastic emergency services and each compliments the other.”

That stood out most when Glenn supported both CFA and AV’s response to the tragic, fatal crash into a Daylesford beer garden in 2023.

“I’ll never forget the scene of utter destruction,” Glenn said.

“I was working for CFA that day and we followed the first ambulance crew to the scene. I’d recently done AV’s mass casualty training, so I volunteered to be the transport and triage officer for the scene.

“It’s memorable for me for multiple reasons, but one is how all those magnificent paramedic crews, not one of them questioned me. They just did as I asked them to do and went to the patients I pointed them to. All the wonderful training that AV had given me fell into place.”

Steve congratulated Glenn on his service to AV, saying he is highly respected by his peers.

“Glenn is known for being compassionate and professional, and is often described as a role model, not only for his colleagues but his community as well,” Steve said.

“He consistently demonstrates a commitment to providing excellent care for patients, always showing respect, dignity and grace.”

Several award categories were presented at the Grampians staff recognition awards, with local paramedics and first responders also celebrated for career milestones, safe driving and graduating to advanced life support (ALS) or mobile intensive care ambulance (MICA) paramedic levels.