WITH the warmer weather and many Victorians heading outdoors, Ambulance Victoria’s (AV) Wilderness Response paramedics are prepared for any emergencies in remote and wilderness areas across the state.
AV’s team of over 120 specially trained wilderness paramedics are sent to some of Victoria’s most secluded and treacherous alpine or bush areas to help missing or injured people, 4WD off-road incidents or mountain bike falls, or cases where air ambulance is unable to access a patient.
While paramedics are ready to support you in an emergency, the community are reminded to be cautious if heading out for a hike or bushwalk in the warmer weather by:
- Considering whether you’re an inexperienced hiker or if you’re a capable bushwalker, making sure you choose the right hike, not to over-extend yourself and to be prepared
- Planning ahead by monitoring the conditions and let someone know where you’re going and when you’ll return
- Taking plenty of water, sunscreen, food, a phone and a Personal Locator Beacon (PLB).
Wilderness Response paramedics are Advanced Life Support (ALS) and Mobile Intensive Care Ambulance (MICA) paramedics who are trained to be self-sufficient in the wilderness and can be sent off-road whenever a wilderness response is required.
AV Wilderness Response paramedic based in Victoria’s Barwon South-West region, Mick Bajada, said the wilderness response capabilities allowed AV to provide best care to anyone, no matter how complex their location is to respond to.
“Wilderness response couples together everything that is being a paramedic – it’s about team work, problem solving, applying innovations to complex issues, planning ahead and constantly assessing risks,” he said.
Mr Bajada was recently involved with retrieving an injured patient who was stuck on a ledge in the Otway National Park and couldn’t be winched by air ambulance due to a storm.
“Wildness paramedics went in as part of a multi-agency response team and the retrieval operation took all night,” he said. “Planning for the rescue extrication and the physical exertion of retrieving the patient safely required strong collaboration with other agencies.”
The opportunity to become a Wilderness Response paramedic is offered to paramedics with strong outdoor skills and who have more than five years’ experience on-road.
