"You never know who you're going to meet, never know what you're going to see, where you're going to be."
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
For almost 43 years, paramedic Stephen Ford has driven and flown across the state rescuing people from the worst days in their lives.
He was one of the first intensive care paramedics on Victoria's Air Ambulances, he's talked down people over the phone as a clinician at the ESTA call centre, and he's served as a mentor to hundreds of young ambos in western Victoria.
After spending a few years back in Ballarat's ambulance station, he's decided to retire, to spend more time with his grandchildren.
"It's just another chapter opening - just like another day off but a long day off," he said, smiling.
There are several career highlights and harrowing stories - he was on the crew that flew into Pentridge Prison in 1987 during the Jika Jika unit fire.
"In one case, I was working out in Horsham and I went out to Mount Arapiles, got the call-out after I'd finished - there was a guy who was trapped in a rock," he explained.
"He got nearly all the way through, but he got stuck and it took all night to get him out.
"Police search and rescue came up from Melbourne, and got the idea to use vegetable oil, they went around to all the campsites and got as much vegetable oil as they could and squirted it all over him, they eventually got him out but he was unconscious.
"I hear he went back and got through the second time."
READ MORE: Paramedics steadily swifter across city
Mr Ford initially aimed to be a radiographer, but the eight month waiting time for the course turned him onto being a paramedic instead.
He completed the mobile intensive care course in 1980, when there were only six units in the state, before taking on the Air Ambulance job for seven years.
He's still surprised by the "unique" characters he's met over his time.
"Not that long ago, we got sent to a lady with chest pain, she was 92, she didn't want to bother anyone, she'd fallen over - this was 10pm at night - she'd fallen over at 7 in the morning," he said.
"She said the pain started when she fell over - 'oh, you've had a fall?', we asked her.
"We start working through questions with her, and we noticed she was sitting on the chair without moving her arm - we asked if she had a problem, so we took her dressing gown off, and she'd dislocated her shoulder.
"She'd been sitting there all day and didn't know what to do, so we gave her some pain relief and took her to hospital where they popped her shoulder back in.
"She said 'thank you, didn't want to bother you' - how do you even get your dressing gown on?
"Things like that you remember, lovely people who just need some help, and that's what it's all about."
He said he is concerned by people attacking emergency workers, and said he'd like to know what was behind the mindset.
Legislation instituting mandatory penalties for assaults on emergency workers were introduced last year.
"I think it's been a long time coming, I don't know what the mindset is at the moment where it's okay to bash ambos or police officers, I don't have an answer for that," he said.
"Now it seems there's this growing trend where people think 'we'll go out and do this', (paramedics) have locations in place in communications that we will not go to without police."
That said, there's been times where Mr Ford's been able to help out his colleagues from afar.
"I've rung particular patients back and said 'you know the drill, if you misbehave then we're not coming'," he said.
"I got one one night, I talked this lady who told me she was armed with a knife.
"I told her the only way to resolve this is if you put the knife down and sit down on the driveway, with your legs crossed like you're at kinder and put your hands on your head.
"Police got there, she was sitting there in the driveway with her hands on her head."
While a lot has changed in terms of technology and equipment, awareness training has also become more prominent.
"You are more aware of your surroundings, we're taught that, we're taught to look at particular things going in and out to make sure you get home safe, and that's what it's all about," he said, but added he was amazed at the new ambulances
"The things we can do now is not something you would ever consider back in the day.
"When I first started, they didn't have cardiac monitors in the car, now every car's got one, every car's got a defib, the advanced life support through to MICA have clot-busting drugs on board - that in itself is a big tick, you can basically dissolve a clot in the period of time when you're on the way to the hospital."
Standing in the driveway at the Humffray Street ambulance station, a brand new Mercedes van is parked in front of us - one paramedic said it looked like a space shuttle inside.
Mr Ford quietly said it'd be good to take it for a spin before his last day on Monday.
Have you signed up to The Courier's variety of news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in Ballarat.
