Edenhope paramedic Malcolm Hunting reflects on career

Hailing from Glenroy in Melbourne, Mr Hunting began as an ambulance service officer in 1977 at Broadmeadows.

The rural life had been on the couple's mind for a long time, dipping their toe with a property in Kinglake before making the move to live among family in the west Wimmera town.

Mr Hunting said the change was stark, trading up to 15 jobs a day in the city hustle to around three a week.

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"They were a lot quieter, but they were far more intensive," he said.

"In the early days in Edenhope we only had a couple of ambulance community officers and they weren't always available, so often I was going out to jobs by myself and had to manage using bystanders to drive and those sorts of things.

"It is a wide-open expanse. In Melbourne, you drive down the main road and you have buildings all around you, whereas here you have red gums."

Mr Hunting retired as a paramedic on August 22, after 45 years on the job.

His career was celebrated alongside friends, family and the Wimmera's Ambulance Victoria community at a morning tea on the day at the Horsham branch.

Years before, Mr Hunting had worked in retail and was convinced by his wife to consider a role with the ambulance, sensing he could do more with his life.

Reflecting on his time in the ambulance service, Mr Hunting said it was "chalk and cheese" from when he first started.

"When I first joined, in terms of treatment we had oxygen and one type of painkiller. We couldn't use a monitor, couldn't even do take a blood pressure," he said.

"Now we have got 25 plus drugs that we can use for a better outcome for our patients. We have monitors, we can do a blood pressure, and we can do treatments I would have never thought we could do when I first started."

Some of the new treatments included drugs which could stabilise people under cardiac arrest, something Mr Hunting had not dreamt at the start of his career.

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"In years gone by they would have died in a pre-hospital event, but now we can treat them pre-hospital and have a far better outcome," he said.

"When I first started we were driving Ford F100s and now we have gone to Mercedes Benz.

"Everything has so dramatically changed all for a better outcome for our patients. That is what it is all about."

Mr Hunting said he had made many fond memories during his long career with Ambulance Victoria.

"It sounds a bit cliche, but every job was important for me. I had a skill, I had an ability, I knew that and my objective was to improve my patient's outcome by the time they got to the hospital as much as possible," he said.

He said he always enjoyed delivering babies, which he had done five times in his career.

"The last one I had was about seven kilometres outside of Horsham. We didn't quite make it, and we delivered in the back of the ambulance. That was a real highlight," he said.

With the job's highs comes its lows, however, something Mr Hunting said he had to grapple with many times.

"There are some that will stick with me forever. There are some that I couldn't change the outcome, but I made decisions as best as I could," he said.

"There have been some jobs that you don't want anybody to have to deal with. But we do, that is what we have to do, and that is why I am proud to wear the uniform."

He said the guiding light through it all was his wife, Lesley, who was there to support him no matter how hard the day's shift had been.

"My wife was my sounding board. She always knew when I had a bad job. She was always there to sit and listen, rant, rave and blow off steam. She always knew when to step in and say the right thing," he said.

Mr Hunting celebrated his career with a morning tea at the Horsham Ambulance Victoria branch, where he was presented with memorabilia and congratulated by colleagues.

His daughter Bethany attended the event, who has also served as an ambulance community officer in Edenhope for four years.

Mr Hunting said some of his best memories on the job were spent with his daughter.

"We have had many a job. There is always driving home together and taking a selfie in the ambulance. Just father-daughter experiences. It was fantastic," he said.

After 45 years, Mr Hunting encouraged young paramedics to keep learning and to listen to the advice those with experience were giving them.

"My thoughts are always; do your study, learn as much as you can, and when you think you have learned enough, you put your head down again and continue to learn," he said.

"Listen to those who have been on the road. They have done that for 10, 20, 30, 40 years. They have ambulance life experience and they carry with them a wealth of knowledge."

Throughout all the highs and lows, Mr Hunting acknowledged the role Ambulance Victoria had played in his life.

"It is going to be hard to take off that uniform tonight," he said.

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