Gunnedah's Brad Sandercock set for career as paramedic

The 22-year-old will be given an official start date if he passes the medical and backgrounds checks. He applied mid-year, and was interviewed in August.

Brad is currently doing placement at Penrith Ambulance Station as the last stage of his Bachelor of Clinical Practice (Paramedic) at Charles Sturt University. It involves on-road training from paramedics, attending 000 calls, caring for patients and hospital transfers.

Following his placement, Brad will await contact from ASNSW, with hopes he will become part of the February 2017 class and begin work as a paramedic intern.

“The position will depend upon operational requirements of the Ambulance Service, so I could be stationed anywhere from Sydney, Tweed Heads and as far west as Broken Hill,” Brad said. 

“The role would involve working as a paramedic under supervision to make sure my treatments and assessments are safe for a year, before being allowed to work without supervision as a normal paramedic.

“It’s a daunting feeling, but I’m really excited to start doing what I’ve been training for. I’ve definitely got the theoretical knowledge of how things work and why things happen the way they do, so it will be good to start putting them into practice.”

Brad said he chose to become a paramedic because of his experiences at motor vehicle accidents as a Rural Fire Service volunteer.

“Seeing how the paramedics worked to help these people got me thinking about a life in one of the emergency services, especially paramedics,” he said.

“I’ve also loved medical shows since I was young, and enjoyed being able to get outdoors, so paramedics seemed to be the perfect fit.

“I enjoy being able to solve problems and meet new people, and these are two key components of life as a paramedic.”