General News
7 July, 2022
Local ambulance station welcomes new paramedic
Lydia Barri has wanted to be a paramedic since high school and starting her dream job in Maryborough just a few months ago, believes the local com-munity is the perfect place to kickstart a career in paramedicine. Lydia is one of 12 new graduate...
Lydia Barri has wanted to be a paramedic since high school and starting her dream job in Maryborough just a few months ago, believes the local community is the perfect place to kickstart a career in paramedicine.
Lydia is one of 12 new graduate paramedics to start working in the Loddon Mallee region and one of 300 to start across the state as part of the Victorian Government’s $35 million boost to get more ambulances on the road.
A Bendigo local, Lydia is now in her second month of work at the Maryborough Ambulance Station and is loving every minute of it.
“As a paramedic you choose the region you’ll be working in and I chose Loddon Mallee as my preference because my family is in Bendigo and I was lucky enough to get Maryborough,” she said.
“The Loddon Mallee area extends from Mildura to Kyneton, it is a large region, so I was really happy when I found out I’d be stationed in Maryborough.
“In the last couple of months I’ve worked here I’ve found this branch to be so supportive.
“I’ve found that if we’re taking a patient to Ballarat or Bendigo the transport times have really allowed me to get to know my patients a little bit more and I’ve really enjoyed that aspect of it.
“Learning more about people in the community has really cemented how much I like being a paramedic.”
Becoming a paramedic had been Lydia’s dream since school and graduating from her paramedicine course in 2019, said she’s thrilled to finally be doing her dream job.
“I always wanted to do something in the health industry, by year 12 I had a rough idea that I wanted to be a paramedic and I was an ambulance community officer in Wedderburn while I was at uni, so with all of that put together I knew this was the right path for me,” she said.
“I graduated back in 2019 so have been out of university for a while but in that time I’ve been in the industry doing patient transport and that sort of thing.
“To now be in this role is great, I find it so challenging and you’re constantly learning, it’s diverse and every day is different.
“This is something I’ve always wanted to do ever since high school and I think Maryborough is the right place to start out, it’s a great community.”
With more paramedics being put on across the state through the Victorian Budget and funding announcements to meet the high demand Ambulance Victoria is currently seeing, Lydia encouraged residents to save calls to Triple Zero for emergencies.
“We’re quite busy at the moment in the health sector,” she said.
“We want to get to the patients who are the sickest in a quick time and be able to manage them effectively.
“If there’s one message I can get out there for the Loddon Mallee is for people to save Triple Zero calls for emergencies.
“There are so many services like GPs, pharmacists and nurses on call available so please, if it’s not an emergency, seek advice from them first.”