Medic at work
LEIF Tweedie has been working in the paramedic role at Fletcher International’s Dubbo plant for just four months and for the 28-yearold it’s been a massive tree change.
He grew up in Penrith and moved to Wyong on the state’s Central Coast in 2003, finished school there and started a car detailing business which he ran for seven years.
“It did well and it was successful, but my heart wasn’t in it and towards the end of that seven years I started studying because I’d always wanted to be a paramedic, that was my long term goal,” Mr Tweedie told Dubbo Photo News.
“I started with Central Queensland Uni externally and I’d go to Queensland every month or two to do my residential school and then I’d also fly to Queensland for my placement. You need 800 hours of placements as part of your degree so I went to Tin Can Bay, Gympie, Coolum, Bundaberg and graduated in November 2020.”
Becoming a paramedic was always his long-term goal when he was at school but he wanted to have life experience, so started his detailing business to gain more of an understanding about people before beginning a degree in the field.
“I knew I’d have to go on the road and see some pretty serious and life-threatening things, seeing people in some of the worst states of their lives, so I wanted to have my own experiences so I could effectively communicate with people when I did get to those situations – I always want to prepare myself before I start something, as much as I possibly can,” Mr Tweedie said.
The Fletcher gig is his first job out of uni and one of two he was offered, the other a medic role at the new Barangaroo Crowne Plaza.
“I got offered both jobs, I was tossing up between the two and then I came out for a trial at Fletcher’s and after what I saw and heard, I thought this was more suited to me,” he said.
“Out here you see people before an injury, when an injury happens, during it and after, so you see not only when the injury happens but the whole recovery progress and where that leads to and you can implement your own support measures to help them. I saw that before
I started here and I thought I could see some really positive things with that rather than the other medic role, which was just reactive.
“Pretty much within a week or two of coming out here for a trial I came back to the Central Coast, packed up and within a week I was in Dubbo.”
The new recruit really appreciates the culture of a progressive workplace which has such a human focus.
“That was one of the driving factors for me actually coming out here, along with the lifestyle out here as well, that was another factor,” he said.
His major stumbling block was finding any sort of affordable accommodation in Dubbo, forced to spend his first week in a motel at $600.
“I was so keen and just wanted to start work and there was no other offerings, all the Airbnbs were all full so it was $600 a week and for a uni student who’s just graduated, that’s a lot of money but I was keen to start working and just push myself into Dubbo and hope that something popped up.”
Real estate agents told him 20 to 30 people were applying for every rental that came onto the market and it took a long time for Leif and his partner, who’d found a job as an accountant in Dubbo, to find their own place.
“That was one of the biggest hurdles coming out to Dubbo, not knowing if we’d be able to stay just because of the problem (with) finding sustainable accommodation.”
But four months in and he said he loves his new role.
“I think it’s great. I’m learning things every day and the variety of cultures of employees that work here has helped my own communication style has increased and improved dramatically. That’s a really enjoyable factor and you get to hear stories from people who have come from all around the world. You find out about their lives and how they like Dubbo as well,” Mr Tweedie said.
“Workplace safety is imperative in a factory and processing or industrial operation and here it’s very obvious how important that culture is and how seriously it’s taken with Fletcher International.
“If you work here, it’s quite evident and in the first couple of days I was here it was conveyed from all around me just how important that really is and I want to prevent injuries, that’s where I’m coming from.”