IF you or a loved one ever uses a SafetyLink personal alarm in a medical emergency, you have Black Hill\u2019s Pamella Taylor to thank.<\/p>\n
The now-life governor of the Queen Elizabeth Centre invented the device in the 1980s, in partnership with QE engineers, to assist older community members in need.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very proud of SafetyLink because it\u2019s had such far-reaching effects in helping people,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Mrs Taylor trained as a nurse in the mid-1950s, working in Melbourne, and then the Victorian High Country, where she tended to many skiing injuries.<\/p>\n
Settling in Ballarat with late husband Roy in the early-1960s, Mrs Taylor\u2019s first role at the Ballarat Base Hospital was as a midwife in the maternity unit.<\/p>\n
She went onto be an evening sister at the QE, before she joined the welfare department, and became a key driver in the health facility\u2019s growth as its community services director for 15 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve enjoyed making life easier for people and educating them in various ways,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Mrs Taylor has also volunteered at the Gold Museum, with Ballarat Goldfields Probus Club, and the Liberal Party of Australia\u2019s Soldiers Hill branch, and founded the Ballarat branch of Soroptimist International in 1979.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve worked a lot to further the welfare of women,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
For service to nursing, and to the community, Mrs Taylor is being awarded a general Medal of the Order of Australia this Australia Day.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m humbled,\u201d she said. \u201cI loved my work. I did it for the love.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
IF you or a loved one ever uses a SafetyLink personal alarm in a medical emergency, you have Black Hill\u2019s Pamella Taylor to thank. The now-life governor of the Queen Elizabeth Centre invented the device in the 1980s, in partnership with QE engineers, to assist older community members in need. \u201cI\u2019m very proud of SafetyLink […]<\/p>\n