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Meet Advanced Care Paramedics; Harvey Milburn and Gayle Scott.
They are two of around 90 qualified paramedics who decided on a sea change – moving
family and possessions from the UK, to Queensland.
Queensland’s beautiful.
Absolutely beautiful.
Different lifestyle to England, a lot more relaxed.
The weather’s fantastic.
I came travelling here about six years ago, obviously – a fabulous place – met my now
fiancé, brought him back to England with me, we’ve been tooing and froing for the last
six years – living in England, coming back here.
The Queensland Ambulance Service embarked on a global recruitment drive, deciding the
qualifications of paramedics in the UK, best matched the skills of paramedics here in
Australia.
They advertised there for recruits and I had my ear out, ready, waiting to come back
over and went through the process.
And now here I am.
We really have appreciated the efforts from the Department of Immigration and all of
those people involved in the processing of visas.
Sometimes, it’s just a name on a piece of paper, but I’ve got to say, it really does
make a difference when people support the process and get people across.
With UK paramedics being despatched to all corners of the Queensland, they had to be
trained for the conditions – including the food…
We did have on our induction here, they brought in the crocodile and snakes and things
which was a good insight into what is around, but you don’t see it everyday, so, that’s
quite pleasing – really.
So if you get sick in Queensland and need an ambulance while watching the Ashes or the
Rugby World Cup, be careful what you say – the nice paramedic taking your blood pressure,
might just quietly be cheering for the other team.