THEY are the men and women you may rely on one day to do extraordinary things to save your life.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
So it's good to know that when the going gets tough, paramedics will be fit enough to keep going.
In Wagga this week, nine rescue paramedics have undergone special operations training in preparation for their recertification in Sydney in April and May.
This is what they had to do without a break yesterday morning:
– A 3.5 kilometre march carrying a 20 kilogram pack;
– Two minutes of CPR;
– Three minutes of stepping with the 20kg pack;
– Dragging a 75-kilogram dummy 20 metres;
– A 15 metre underwater swim in uniform;
– A 200m swim in uniform;
– 10 minutes of treading water in uniform.
NSW Ambulance Service Riverina duty operations manager, Superintendent Eamonn Purcell, said the tests were designed to replicate what paramedics have to do in the field.
"Sit ups and push ups are superfluous, they do not mean anything (in the paramedic workplace environment)," Superintendent Purcell said.
Darren Rudd has been a rescue paramedic for nine years and is undergoing his third recertification.
"It (the tests' physical demands) is not something we encounter every day, but it's something we need to be prepared for every day," he said.
"You never know when the phone will ring and say we need you for something.
"Plus, it keeps us on our toes to make sure our fitness and abilities are up to scratch."
The training this week has been overseen by Inspector Dane Goodwin, who is the NSW Ambulance Service's, rescue co-ordinator.
He said there had been "no dramas at all" with the performance of the paramedics.
"I have every confidence that whatever jobs are thrown at them they will get through and get the job done," Inspector Goodwin said.