LONGTIME pillar of the Hopetoun community, volunteer paramedic Kathleen Poulton was awarded an Ambulance Service Medal as part of the Australia Day honours list.<\/p>\n
Now working and living in Ballarat, Mrs Poulton said receiving the award provided her with the opportunity to reflect on her 22 years as an Ambulance Community Officer.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an honour and I\u2019m proud, humbled and embarrassed all rolled into one feeling,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy husband was part of one of the first groups to become an ACO around 40 years ago and the community rallied and paid for our own ambulance with the support of Hopetoun Rotary Club and the local doctor.<\/p>\n
\u201cI then thought, I suppose I could be ambulance officer because you tend to wear different hats and you do those things, when you\u2019re in a small town.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Ambulance Service Medal recognises those who excel in their care and services under any of Australia\u2019s ambulance organisations.<\/p>\n
Being an ACO, Mrs Poulton said although she was paid for hours on the job, there are many unpaid hours both on call and volunteering.<\/p>\n
\u201cBack in Hopetoun we had an ambulance that was manned by Ambulance Community Officers which are volunteers, however, we are not paid paramedics, we are paid volunteers,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was a team leader for seven years, I was instrumental in bringing education for CPR and defibrillators at local shows, at the Red Cross or primary schools and worked to enlist more ACOs in the area.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m also a nurse, that\u2019s my paid job because my passion has always been community health and community nursing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mrs Poulton said she continues to channel her passion for nursing and paramedicine into her current work at Ballarat Health Services\u2019 Queen Elizabeth Centre and home visits.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m also very passionate about keeping those services available to rural communities,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope I instil in my kids and grandkids that when you live in a community, you\u2019ve actually got to live in it you can\u2019t just be there.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the 22 years, I have worked with so many people, ACOs and paramedics and we\u2019re all there for that person on the worst day of their lives and to be awarded and singled out is not in my make up at all.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LONGTIME pillar of the Hopetoun community, volunteer paramedic Kathleen Poulton was awarded an Ambulance Service Medal as part of the Australia Day honours list. Now working and living in Ballarat, Mrs Poulton said receiving the award provided her with the opportunity to reflect on her 22 years as an Ambulance Community Officer. \u201cIt\u2019s an honour […]<\/p>\n