Following in dad’s footsteps

For Cassie Parker, joining Ambulance Victoria (AV) isn’t just a career milestone, it’s a continuation of a lifelong connection to her hometown and the service she grew up around.

Cassie will hit the road as a graduate paramedic in Wodonga this week, continuing her family legacy at the branch where her father Grant undertook the majority of his 40-plus year paramedicine career.

Becoming a paramedic was always in the pipeline for Cassie, with fond childhood memories of waiting for her father, Grant, to get home from his shift and debrief his day.

“He’d tell me the kid-friendly version of what jobs he’d been to that day. I loved listening to what he had done,” Cassie said.

“We would also visit dad most days when he was on day shift to say hello. I spent so much time at the Wodonga ambulance branch as a kid.

“It means a lot to be able to follow in his footsteps, but part of me is nervous as they’re big shoes to fill. Dad was well known in ambulance and generally in the community.

“If I can be half the ambo he was I think I’ll be very happy.”

Cassie commenced her AV career in mid-2018, starting out as an Ambulance Community Officer (ACO) based in Tallangatta. While there, she had the opportunity to work alongside her father, who finished his career at the Tallangatta branch.

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.

“We had great variety in our work – attending some very challenging jobs alongside Mobile Intensive Care Ambulance (MICA) and MICA flight paramedics, but also attending jobs where the main treatment was providing reassurance,” Cassie said.

“Tallangatta has an incredible group of ACOs, guided by the amazing paramedics that worked out there. The highlight for me was definitely the people and relationships I have built over the past few years.

“Being an ACO was also great to allow me to get a feel and appreciation for the work paramedics do, especially in rural and remote areas.”

While working as an ACO, Cassie completed nursing studies and spent a few years working as a registered nurse. She then applied to study paramedicine, obtaining a scholarship through AV’s Pathway to Paramedicine, which supports AV first responders to make the transition to qualified paramedic.

“I was lucky and very grateful to receive the scholarship, which provided me with extra support during my studies and helped me secure a graduate position in my local area in regional Victoria,” she said.

“Wodonga has always been home so I was very happy to be told I was placed at the branch here.

“Over the years I’ve grown up with a lot of the local paramedics and first responders, who I now will have the privilege of being able to call my colleagues.

“Most of all, I’m looking forward to giving back to my home community.”