The Chronicle

CAREER CHANGE FOR CARLY

- MORGAN BURLEY

A CALM and reassuring emergency medical dispatcher during a difficult phone call is what led a Toowoomba woman to transition into a new career.

Queensland Ambulance Service EMD Carly Meyer was posted to the Toowoomba Operations centre in December last year, after completing an eight-week training program and relocating from Cairns.

“A combinatio­n of wanting to help others and loving a fast paced, pressure cooker environmen­t really made it feel like this was the job for me,” she said.

“It has certainly been a very big learning curve, especially with the challenge of learning such a big area, but I definitely love it.”

Ms Meyer said while the job could include some difficult situations, one of the memorable moments was how a phone call could end.

“It means so much when they say thank you at the end of the call,” she said.

“You get a warm feeling inside when they appreciate that you’ve helped them through a rough moment, and it can make you really enjoy the job.”

Ms Meyer said EMDs were provided with extensive resilience training and support in line with situations that might arise with a 12hour shift.

“Anything that does affect us, we have the option of peer support, colleagues we can turn to, and I have awesome support at home as well which makes a big difference,” she said.

“The training was tough … I didn’t think I could do this, but now I know I can, and I really love what I do,” she said.

Ms Meyer is just one of many emergency dispatcher­s across the region who are the first point of call when residents are faced with a difficult situation.

 ?? ?? PRESSURE COOKER: QAS emergency medical dispatcher Carly Meyer loves the fast pace of her rewarding job.
Picture: Kevin Farmer
PRESSURE COOKER: QAS emergency medical dispatcher Carly Meyer loves the fast pace of her rewarding job. Picture: Kevin Farmer

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